Vita Mirabilis
by Sari-Damien
Summary: Sequel to Cold Dusk. Leila is adjusting to life as a Cullen vampire. It means going back to school but that doesn't mean she has to like it. But it is the way of her new family and she loves them enough to try. She'll find out more about her special abilities and meet the wolves, one who has a connection with her. Doesn't mean she has to like them either. Read 1st bk 4 back story.
1. Prologue

Hello Ladies! (& gentlemen?)

Welcome to the next installment of my continuation of the Cullen Family Saga. If you have not read my first story, Cold Dusk by Sari Damien, I suggest you do so before continuing on with this one.

Because it is a continuation, a lot of the key elements of this story will be hard to understand without the background of my first book.

I'm going to keep the chapters a little shorter this time around so I can edit and post faster! I hope that quicker posts will make up for the lesser content, but don't worry. I'm not going to shorten the over all book, just put up more chapters.

I write out of my love for the Twilight saga and my new member of their family, Leila. I welcome constructive criticism and reviews, but as this is all a figment of my imagination, I apologize if you do not like my ideas or circumstances in the story.

I love the characters how they are, so everyone will always be Canon with no AU.

The title of this book, Vita Mirabilis, means A Wonderful Life. While there will be a little fluffy drama, this book is more about Leila's new life with the Cullen's. Without giving away too much, some things are changing, for the better, and the family will just have a peaceful time in their lives after all the drama with Renesmee and the bits I gave them in Cold Dusk.

But don't worry; Book 3 will hold plenty of danger and high stakes drama!

I hope you enjoy the journey with me! Happy reading!


	2. Truths on Isle Esme

**LEILA POV**

Sometimes in life there are unexplainable things that are beyond the capability of comprehension. If my life was to be one long series of this phenomenon, I was just going to be okay with it. If I stopped to rationalize and dwell too deeply, I started to freak out. Emmett had a good take on life; _'just roll with it'_.

I stared at the sky as I floated on my back in the warm tropical waters. I had been out to sea for almost four hours, but as there was no search party looking for me yet, I figured it was best to stay gone for a while. I wasn't stupid. I was sixteen and well aware of things married couples did together. I couldn't figure out though if being married for like a million years made Carlisle and Esme bored with each other or since they were eternally twenty-something they were like young people forever. Either way, I was a sensitive person and I thought that they might like time without me there. We were on vacation on an awesome island after all.

It was a vacation like I always imagined super rich people went on. Your own private island, with a cool boat to take you wherever you wanted and staff that came every couple days to make sure everything was perfect. I didn't understand though why they had maids come. We didn't make a mess at all and we didn't eat. Speaking of eating, I had been getting uncomfortably thirsty all day, and just the thought of the people who were supposed to come tomorrow morning made my head swim and my mouth water.

That was probably a bad thing, but the fantasy of it made me shiver in the warm water. I should probably tell Carlisle and Esme I was very thirsty. It would look really bad if one of their employees went missing in a foreign country.

Not wanting Esme to start hyperventilating about me being missing, I stroked lazily towards shore. Poor mama, I had really stressed her out with my last disappearance. I knew she was jittery about me leaving at any point and I didn't really blame her. She had almost been killed by my father the last time I had left.

I knew Carlisle was very intent on talking to me about everything that had happened back in Forks. I had successfully stalled the first few days we were here, but I could tell that he wasn't going to accept that anymore. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk about things; I just wasn't sure exactly how to tell him about Keiran especially.

When we weren't able to leave for Isle Esme immediately, I had asked Jasper to take me down to Oregon to talk to Aurora. Esme had almost lost her mind that I was leaving again so instead I had ended up calling her. Since there wasn't a thing called privacy in the Cullen family, Carlisle had taken me on a drive giving me his cell phone to call her. Surprisingly no one in the family had objected. They probably thought they could just use Alice and Edward to eavesdrop in their own way.

Aurora had been a positive gold mine of information. _Who knew that there were so many supernatural beings walking the earth?_ The fact that most people were unaware of their true potential was the most mind boggling thing to me.

I reached shallow water and stood, wringing out my hair as I went ashore. Esme was standing in the doorway to her room, the sheer curtains fluttering around her in the warm breeze. She had a relaxed smile and looked remarkably happy.

"You were gone four hours and twenty-three minutes," she scolded in a pleasant voice that belied her words. _Huh, guess she had a nice day_.

"I didn't notice anyone searching for me," I replied impudently with a smirk. She narrowed her eyes shaking her head, but her answering grin told me she wasn't really complaining. I went around to the side of the house where there was an outdoor shower to rinse the salt residue off of me. It was really weird how my skin didn't absorb anything but when I stayed in the water awhile it was like salt and particles adhered to it. As I washed it all off under the spray of fresh water, I marveled at the contrast of my hair and the rest of my body. I couldn't get how I had basically turned to stone, but my hair was just as soft if not even nicer than when I was human. I worried sometimes that if hair was just dead cells, wouldn't it end up breaking off? _What if I ended up bald?_ _That would be horrible!_ I comforted myself with the knowledge that Carlisle was like a thousand years old and he didn't suffer from a receding hairline. I was probably good for the next couple hundred years at least.

"Leila honey," Esme's voice pulled me from the wanderings of my mind. I shut off the water and left the little bamboo enclosure. She was standing with a towel in hand. She smiled -of course- when she saw me. How one being could find so much happiness from simply looking at someone, I did not know.

"I'm coming," I said with a tone of voice that said I knew Carlisle had sent her to retrieve me. She just looked at me with those mother eyes. I rolled mine. "I'm coming, I promise. I'm just going to get dressed really quick!"

"We'll be waiting on the porch." Her voice told me that I better be there within minutes. I smiled. I kind of liked it when she got all stern. It was like she really cared and was determined to be my mom. I didn't mind. I was still getting used to the idea of a mother who was interested and invested in my well being. Though I now understood the reason behind my birth mother's manner towards me, I didn't have the experience of a warm affectionate mother. I cringed at the thought. _Was it terrible of me that I was already thinking of my mother as my birth-mom?_ I had only been away from her for five months. It felt like a lifetime ago that I lived such a carefree existence, having no clue of the outrageous reality I would become a part of.

I dressed in a pair of shorts and tank top in record time. _Alice would have an absolute fit if she saw me!_ I chuckled; I loved irritating her with clothes. She got so utterly bent out of shape over the tiniest thing when it came to fashion. And though no one else would dare to admit it, I think the rest of the family found it humorous when I tortured her with it.

I heaved out a breath as I looked in the mirror. I was just a little nervous. What if they didn't believe me? They were probably going think I was completely nuts. But then again, from what I knew of the family so far, this might not even faze them. I wonder if Esme was going to be there or if I was just going to talk to Carlisle one on one.

I heard the slight creak of wicker and quickly turned from the mirror. I better get out there before Esme came to fetch me. Making my way through the house quickly, I stepped out on the porch. It wrapped around both sides of the house and was furnished with exquisite island style furniture. Carlisle and Esme sat on a cushioned wicker loveseat, her head resting against his shoulder while he had his arm around her shoulders. If I had thought Esme had looked relaxed and happy when I had come back from diving, then the same could be said for Carlisle. There was no restless energy from him or the tight lines of tension that had been around his eyes.

He smiled warmly at me as I crossed the porch to fold myself into the swinging hammock chair I loved. "Hello Leila."

I raised an eyebrow and smiled back. "Hello Carlisle." Now that I was sitting with them I didn't feel nervous anymore. The reality was; these were two people who had welcomed me into their family and taken care of me at a very perilous time in my life. I was almost drowned in a sea of love from Esme at every moment of the day and they were not even aware that Carlisle was really my uncle.

I pushed myself lazily with my toes as I stared at him. He looked as if he was trying to figure out how to start this discussion. It was a weird one I had to admit. _What did you say first?_ So I blurted out the question that had been torturing me.

"Did you meet my dad?" He was obviously not expecting that question and his eyes widened before he collected himself.

"Yes, I met with your father."

I nodded as I chewed on my lip. "He isn't my real father you know." My statement was blunt and he inclined his head with a sympathetic expression.

"I know. You told us on our way home from Alaska, and even if you had not, there would have been no doubt in my mind after I met him." The compassionate way he spoke took the sting from the words. I looked out at the water before returning my gaze to Carlisle and Esme.

"That man who almost killed Esme," I paused and they looked at me expectantly. "That was my real father."

They both froze and stared in disbelief. "What?" Esme whispered between stone lips. I looked down at my hands in shame before lifting repentant eyes back to her.

"The man who tried to kill you, he was my biological father."


	3. Our Family Heritage

******Hi all! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! :) Enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Carlisle POV<strong>

_"The man who tried to kill you, he was my biological father."_

There was nothing Leila could have said that would have shocked me more. Esme sat in stunned silence and I couldn't seem to find any words to say. Leila was looking at us expectantly and when she received no reply from either of us, she looked down at her feet, insecurity written clearly on her lovely face. Gathering my wits, I scrambled to say something reassuring, but all that came out was, "How do you know he was your biological father?"

She looked up at me with wide eager eyes, seemingly grateful for my question. "Well, first you have to promise not to laugh at what I tell you." I looked at her quizzically, not sure how the answer to my question could possibly cause humor.

"Of course I will not laugh at you," I assured her gently.

She pushed herself with her toes, swinging gently in the woven hammock chair she loved. Esme was staring intently at her as if waiting to hear how on earth she could be that monster's daughter.

"It's kind of a long story," she hedged.

I smiled at her evasive statement. "We have all day and night."

She heaved a sigh and leaned back in the hammock, swinging a little more vigorously. She peered at the ceiling as if the strips of teak wood were the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

"Okay, well. I guess it all started when my mother cheated on my dad with some guy named Keiran. Except he wasn't just a guy; he was like five hundred years old and a guardian of vampires." She bit her lip and flashed a look at me. With a quick breathe she rushed into speech again her eyes firmly averted.

"I already knew that my dad wasn't really my dad but I didn't have any idea who my real father was. The woman I called before we came here was a gypsy that owned this little shop near my house. When I was little my babysitter would take me to all the stores on that street. One day she was just there with a tiny little shop all decorated and it smelled really good. I remember that more than anything. It smelled so good. After I met her, I wanted to go back and see her everyday. Something about being with her made me feel very happy."

"When I went down to Oregon I was walking down that street just to look at my favorite places one more time and Aurora called my name. I knew it was her right away because she was the only one besides my grandfather that called me Leila. She recognized me and said I was just how I was destined to be. I was kind of stunned that she would say that, I mean how did she know about vampires? We were outside her store and she brought me inside and said I needed to listen to what she needed to tell me because there wasn't much time."

Leila looked at me quickly before twirling herself around once in the suspended chair. With an exaggerated sigh she continued speaking.

"She told me that when I was four years old my destiny was set to become a vampire. She was sent there to be my watcher. I guess depending on your level of importance, you get a watcher. Apparently there is like a whole separate race of angel type people who guard the vampire world. They're called Farzhaq and they're immortal but they don't eat humans or anything. They exist to keep balance and a form of good in the vampire world." I stared at her flummoxed. She continued speaking not seeing my expression.

"Keiran was one of them. My mother has never known, but she is half Farzhaq too. Someone who is half human/half Farzhaq is called a Zamim. They are able to protect their human family by simply being. And some of them are watchers for specific people. I don't know if it's just other Zamim or some humans or vampires too. I forgot to ask Aurora."

"She said that it was prophesied that my mother's daughter would be one of two who would bring justice to the ancients of the immortal world. Well, when the head honchos realized that my sister Lily was not the child, Keiran was sent to my mother. I'm not to sure how they could know that Lily wasn't the prophesied child but if they're like angels I figure they probably know pretty much everything."

"Apparently Keiran was a super persuasive person and my mother never had a chance against his charming nature." Leila rolled her eyes as if she thought that was completely ridiculous and started braiding the tassels she had been fingering. "Well, my mother was devastated for cheating on my dad and she lied to Keiran when he asked if she had gotten pregnant. Apparently she had a _'talent'_," the word was said sarcastically with air-quotations.

"She can lie so convincingly that you're unable to doubt her word at all. Not that I'm so surprised."

"It's lucky for me though that she lied to him with how evil he turned out to be. You see if a Farzhaq chooses to become a vampire, if they have a child who is part human, that child's destiny is set to become one in turn. Only their own offspring is strong enough to kill them in turn. But if he had known I was alive, he would have come and killed me when I was four." She looked at me suddenly with her vibrant purple eyes. "Do you know how creepy it is to think that my own father would have sucked my blood dry when I was just a little kid?"

I could do nothing but shake my head in the stupor I was in. Every word out of her mouth made the story more and more fantastically unbelievable.

"Well, since my father was a _'Dark Lord' _or whatever double immortals would be called, and my mother was an extra special Zamim, _'The Council'_ decided that I would get a watcher, so they sent Aurora." She stopped herself suddenly and leaned forward.

"I kind of have an issue with _'The Elders' _or whatever they call themselves. If they knew I was going to be a vampire someday, I think they should have made sure it had been done in a better way. Or at least they should have had someone with me. Aurora said they are able to comfort with great capability. So the least they could have done was have someone stay with me instead of leaving me all alone, scared out of my mind on top of all the pain."

Leila leaned back again, tucking her long legs under her in the cotton seat and returned to her former train of thought. "Usually a Zamim has a Farzhaq father. It is much more special to be from a Farzhaq mother. Farzhaq fathers retain their immortality if they are with a human woman, but to become a mother with a human man, you have to give up your immortality and become human also. There have only been three children born to a Farzhaq mother with a human father. My mother was one of them." She paused as if considering her next words.

"You were one of them too."

She looked at me warily to gauge my reaction. I gaped open mouthed at her & blinked as if it would help me comprehend her words. She bit her lip and pushed against the floor again sending her hammock into motion. "I don't know who the third one is or if they're even alive."

"Aurora said that vampire's souls are altered from humans but they still possess them. A Farzhaq cannot be changed into a vampire unless they choose it deliberately and so their soul becomes totally evil and black with no hope of redemption. There have not been many, but when a Zamim is changed into a vampire, they have more of a conscience than a normal human would. It is harder for them to feed on humans as they are effected emotionally and spiritually. If they are first generation, they are affected much more than a second or third generation Zamim would be." Leila looked up to me again.

"Aurora said that because you are from a Farzhaq mother, your soul will not allow you to feed from a human. Because I was almost pure Farzhaq and was turned against my will, I will never physically be able to bite a human. She said it is _'haqq-noor'_ or the truth and light of the holy realm that will never allow us to take a righteous human life."

Her perfect brows pinched together. "I wonder though when she said a righteous life, if that means I could kill someone evil?" She shook her blond head as she refocused on the matter at hand.

"When I told Keiran who I was, he tried to persuade me to go away with him because I would be the most powerful immortal who ever lived. I declined his offer by taking his head." She looked at us again, with her nose scrunched up like a little child. "Even though he was a really bad guy and I will always think of Razul as my real birth father, I felt really weird after killing him." She made a little sad face and then shrugged philosophically. I saw Esme frozen beside me, her eyes impossibly wide as she stared in sheer disbelief at Leila. I understood exactly how she felt.

I could understand the Volturi, special abilities, werewolves, shape shifters and half vampire/half human children, but this was beyond anything I had ever imagined in all of my centuries on the earth. If what she was saying were true and there was a spiritual realm for vampires, it laid waste to years and years of hopelessness. There was so much racing through my mind, questions one upon another but I held my tongue not wanting to interrupt her current train of thought.

"I was always destined to come to you," Leila said now, smiling softly as she seemed to be thinking of something pleasant. This sharpened my attention.

"What do you mean, destined to come to us," I questioned, finally finding my voice and wits.

She smiled at me directly. "Before I killed Keiran, I gathered a little info from him. Coupled with what Aurora told me, I think I have our family heritage pretty much figured out."

I looked at her closely, not sure if she was in her right mind. "I'm sorry, did you say 'our family heritage'?"

Sliding herself so she was lying sideways, Leila nodded. "Yep." She was more relaxed and cheerful, as if my inclusion in the conversation was making her more comfortable. "Do you remember the look on Keiran's face when I called your name in the meadow and you looked at us?" I instantly saw the image in my mind, the improbable flashes of malevolence, shock, disbelief and then the most brief emotion of unmistakable love in those devil-like eyes. I nodded to Leila who was watching me expectantly. "Yes, I remember how he looked."

"He didn't realize who you were until I told him." Her statement did nothing to clarify the confusion in my mind. "Keiran was full Farzhaq. I don't know how their kinds of relationships work out, or if they have divorce or death. Maybe they don't even have the same emotional ties that humans do. All I know was that at some point in time, his mother fell in love with a human man. She loved him enough that she gave up eternal life for him. But she already had Keiran who was fully grown."

"With her human husband she had a little boy before she died. Becoming human makes a Farzhaq fragile and way back then humans didn't fare very well anyway. Keiran saw his little brother twice but he was forbidden to take him away from the father. He never went back. He was really bitter that his mother had given up her immortality for a creature he deemed unworthy, and then she had died so soon afterward. She had been the greatest healer in the Farzhaq world, so it made it even worse that she died so easily."

I had a weird squeezing sensation in my chest as I began piecing together her words with the flashes of remembrance and knowledge I already possessed. It did nothing however to lessen the impact of her next words.

"His brother,_ 'a little golden angel with the bluest eyes'_, was named Carlisle."

Esme sucked in an audible gasp and looked from me to Leila and back again. She pointed a visibly unsteady finger at Leila then to me. "You... you're... ahh..." She seemed to be beyond grasping words. Leila bit her lip and nodded.

"That's why I was always destined to be with you." Leila looked at me uncertainly and then out to the water. My mind was firing on every available circuit and it suddenly seemed to explode. _Was it really true. Could this angelic girl sitting so close to us really be my true relative?_ I remembered the tiny painting of my mother and stared at Leila, mentally comparing their features. _Could my mother have really been a true angel who had given up her eternal life for the love of my father?_ I couldn't imagine anyone loving my father as I remembered him. He was an oppressive tyrant, bordering on being an outright raving lunatic.

If this were all true, Keiran, the most horrific monster I had ever encountered, who had tried to murder the love of my existence, had been my blood brother. Half of me wanted to refute every word from Leila, but there were already so many incredible things I had witnessed in my lifetime and the whispers I had heard in the halls of Volterra. If everything she had spoken was the unvarnished truth, I had just been given the missing knowledge of who we really were.

"Keiran told me that I had the ability to heal from his mother but that she had also passed it onto her sons. Because I was a female descendant it was stronger in me. But you were her son so you have always had it too. When he was evaporating, I felt myself getting really hot and all of that weird orange light made me hotter and hotter. But when you grabbed me from behind, it felt like it went through me and out my back instead of burning inside my chest." Her eyes were innocent and earnest. "I think that because you already possessed the compassion and desire to heal and have been so utterly righteous for so long, that all of the power to heal from your mother was given completely to you when Keiran died."

"Aurora said I am a collector, that any being I kill I will collect their gifts and abilities. So, maybe when you touched me it transferred to you in the collection process."

Leila smiled with self deprecation. "You probably think I'm crazy, but I have only told you exactly what I have been told. I promise, it's the truth." She swung silently for a few moments before looking up at Esme and I again.

"If it makes a difference, I think it is really cool that you're my uncle."


	4. Rainforest Lunch

**Leila POV**

Carlisle and Esme were looking at me like I was an alien from outer space. I couldn't blame them though, I barely believed the words I had spoken myself. In the uncomfortable silence I swung myself in the hammock, studiously avoiding their eyes. Finally I could not stand it any more and peeked at them. They still looked stunned but there was something in Carlisle's eyes that made me think that he might just believe me. Wanting to bolster favorable feelings, I smiled tentatively.

"If it makes a difference, I think it is really cool that you're my uncle."

Inexplicably Esme began to laugh. When both Carlisle and I stared at her in bemusement she shook her head and smiled hugely. "I just can't believe it. When we first found you, Alice had said you looked like Carlisle but it still surprised me just how much you did. I would have never in my lifetime imagined it was because you were his actual relative!" She surged forward off of the couch and was before me instantly in an uncharacteristically quick movement. Grabbing my hands she pulled me out of the hammock chair and squeezed me in a hug so tightly I squirmed uncomfortably. "Oh sweetie, after all these years, to actually have a child who is part of Carlisle..." She trailed off seemingly at a loss for words in her excited state and I pulled back to peer at her worriedly.

"Esme, Carlisle is my uncle _not _my dad." She looked at me with a luminous smile as she traced the side of my face with her fingertips.

"I know, but you're still a part of him." She kissed my forehead and hugged me again and I gave Carlisle a bewildered look over her shoulder. His eyes were wide and he shrugged like he had no clue what to make of this Esme. "And now you're a part of me too," she whispered quietly in a voice full of love.

She withdrew from me and fixed me with a stare. "If you ever think of leaving us again," she paused, searching for a suitable threat. Somehow in that moment every second I had spent aching for my mother's love was made right and I smiled at Esme. "I won't leave you Esme."

"You won't if you know what's good for you." Carlisle chuckled at her warning and crossed to stand with his arm around her shoulders. The pose was so classic for him and I grinned as I plopped back into my swing. I felt indescribably content as I looked at them standing together before me. My life, my family, everything had been taken away from me, but I had been given them to replace it all and it seemed to me in that moment that I had in no way been cheated. I felt relieved to have told them the whole sordid tale of my parentage and the weirdness that was apparently our legacy. Carlisle led Esme to sit back down and he leaned back in his seat with his legs crossed in a relaxed stance I had not previously seen on him.

He looked at me thoughtfully. "While I am very curious to find out as much as possible about all of this, I can see you need to hunt." At the mere mention of eating I completely lost focus of everything but the burning thirst that was almost overwhelming.

"Perhaps we should go immediately," Esme said noticing the change in my demeanor.

"Unless I can have a housekeeper for lunch," I muttered under my breath. She looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Absolutely not."

Carlisle stood. "Shall we?" He indicated towards the dock where the boat was tied. I was seated in it before they even stepped off the porch. Much to my surprise, it was Esme who piloted the boat as we flew over the water. It was ridiculous how fast the speed boat went.

"Do all boats drive this fast?" I asked Carlisle. He smiled ruefully. "Rosalie may have tweaked a few things in the motor."

I raised my eyebrows. "A few?"

He chuckled. "That's what she said, but I have a feeling it was more like she rebuilt the entire engine. Our kind, especially my children it seems, love speed."

I could understand that. Who wanted to go slow, if you could run faster than your means of transportation? I pointed at Esme. "Does she always drive?"

Esme turned and grinned at me. "I don't care much for driving cars, but I love to drive this boat."

We didn't pull into a marina as I was expecting, we merely slowed and floated into a small cove. The shore and land beyond looked like complete wilderness. Carlisle took in my expression. "This has much better prey than the streets of Rio."

I made a noncommittal grunt. That was a matter of opinion as far as I was concerned. The streets of Rio held much better tasting prey in my mind. I sighed in resignation, at least I could get some kind of food.

Carlisle anchored the boat a dozen yards from shore as Esme turned it off and removed the key. I was preparing to jump over the side when she crouched on the front of the boat and vaulted to the shore. _Whoa! Go Esme!_

I followed suit with Carlisle right behind. "We'll stay a closer together than if we were at home," he said. I was bouncing in place more than ready to go but I wasn't quite sure what there was here to hunt. Also, I was a little weirded out by being in a strange country by myself.

"What stuff is there to eat?" I asked.

Esme smiled, "Oh, you'll love it. Brazil is the boys favorite place to hunt because of the carnivores. Jasper likes the jaguars especially, but there are also cougars."

My throat burned at the thought of having something besides deer. _Sweet!_ "There's a lot of carnivores? I don't have to have deer?" I asked her skeptically. Esme smiled and turned me towards the forest. "Lots and lots," she assured.

I took off running, both of them at my heels. It was such a different experience running through the rainforest. It looked and smelled wet and moldy with intense bursts of fragrance from plants and flowering trees. The creatures scurrying away were weird looking for the most part, but the colorful birds taking flight were so pretty I wanted to leap and catch one to take home.

I focused on finding some food but the unfamiliar smells made it difficult to know what I was searching for. I blanked my mind and allowed feral instinct to take over. Suddenly there was a scent so delicious it made my mouth flood with venom. Every sense was finely tuned to finding it and I growled in delight when I saw the huge jaguar. It snarled fiercely as I came upon it. I grinned wildly and circled it playfully, my good mood of earlier making me enjoy the toying rather than just going for a straight kill. When I finally fed from it I literally purred from enjoyment.

Carlisle and Esme were a safe distance away and when I was finished they approached cautiously. "How was it?" Carlisle asked with a smile around his eyes.

"Really, really yummy," I sighed in contentment. "I wish we could eat like this all the time." They both chuckled.

"I think you would get full agreement from the rest of the family on that," he replied.

Esme reached out a hand. "Come on, we'll find more."

We ran further into the woods and sort of took turns eating as we were staying close together. I didn't mind and took full advantage of the lacework pattern of vines that canopied the rainforest. It was thrilling to launch from a tree and hurtle hundreds of feet through the trees, branches brushing my face as the wind whistled in my ears.

I took down two cougars as they seemed to be more plentiful than the jaguars and felt full and satisfied. I entertained myself while Carlisle and Esme fed, either enjoying the natural swings or watching them from above in the trees. There was something fascinatingly beautiful in the way they moved and felled their prey. I very rarely hunted with them, and I was usually so focused on finding my meal that I didn't pay much attention to watching others feed.

Esme was particularly intriguing. She was such a gentle mother who hardly ever even raised her voice. To see her completely given over to her natural vampire instincts was actually really neat. Her eyes were dark and feral and she moved in a crouching way, streaking after her prey and pouncing with a grace that put the cats she hunted to shame.

Carlisle amused me more, as I found the contrast to his proper facade hilarious. He actually snarled before he had taken down an enviably large jaguar. Had I not have been full, I would have definitely taken it down. Carlisle was almost better than the boys in the way he hunted; much more efficient, neat and quick.

I couldn't wait for the rest of the family to get here. I would definitely make Emmett and Jasper take me hunting. We could actually have a lot of fun I thought, seeing as they both, Emmett especially, liked to play with their food. And I was interested now to watch other family members hunted.

"Honey, are you full or do you want to hunt more?" I looked down at Esme who was standing directly below me. She looked poised and perfect in her yellow sundress. I shook my head as I slid down the vine I hanging from. I dropped with a thud. "Nope, I'm good."

Suddenly there was a shout and chatter in a foreign language. It was a distance away but we could clearly hear them. I was curious but could also see that both of the parents were instantly on alert. I giggled at the frozen, worried look on Esme's face.

"Don't worry mama, I'm not even thirsty." She looked relieved at my reassurance and I turned to Carlisle. "What are they saying? Can you understand them?"

He concentrated for a moment. "It seems to be a hunting party. Many of the local tribes have hunting parties to feed their villages." He listened to the voices that continued to converse. "It is an initiation for some of the young boys. The older men are giving them tips and encouragement." Suddenly there was silence but for the near silent steps of the hunters.

"Can we watch them from above?" I whispered excitedly. I could see the hesitation in his eyes so I used a sweet wheedling tone I had seen Alice have success with on several family members. "Please? I promise to be very quiet and I won't eat a single one. I just want to see how they hunt. Please?"

I saw the give in his eyes and bounced happily. He held up a stern finger. "We stay above and a safe distance away and do not reveal yourself to them at all." I nodded eagerly. There was a small crack as someone stepped on a twig and Carlisle indicated the forest ceiling with his eyes. I scampered up a mammoth tree and walked like a ballerina out on one of the branches. I sat down lightly as I listened to the steps of a human coming closer. I concentrated on taking information from what I was hearing and smelling.

Jasper was continually impressing on me the importance of being on constant alert and knowing what surrounded me at all times. He said I still thought like a human too much, my actions and reactions going first to human inclinations rather than vampire instinct. I think it kind of annoyed him. I informed him in turn, that unlike the rest of them, except Alice of course, I had learned to be a vampire alone and I had the unfortunate addition of remembering my human life strongly. In my mind, I still thought of myself as a human most of the time.

Now I listened closely. It was a small person, their footsteps, silent to human ears but easily heard by us, whispered uncertainly in our direction. Poor guy, he had no idea we had scared all of the prey from this area. I glanced over at Carlisle and Esme. They were standing on a tree branch nearby and watching me rather than looking for the human.

_"What?"_ I mouthed silently. Esme smiled and shook her head. "You're fascinating. I like to watch you." I rolled my eyes but grinned at her whisper.

Suddenly a little brown boy stepped into view. He had on a traditional leather loin cloth but I knew immediately that the poor kid was the nerd of his village. He just had that look that said he was completely out of his element. I could just imagine it. He would come back to the village with a rodent at best but probably nothing at all. His parents would be embarrassed and his peers and the older bullies would make him feel horrible for his lack of hunting finesse. He lumbered clumsily through the foliage and underneath me, seeming to have no idea where to even find an animal.

I moved like lightning and landed deftly next to the parents. "Did you see him?" I whispered quietly. "We've got to help him. Poor guy, he's never going to get anything and then they'll all laugh at him."

Carlisle sighed patiently. "We cannot interfere in their affairs."

I looked to the sky with a long suffering expression. "I don't want to interfere, I just thought if we went ahead of him and steered something non-threatening like a pig or deer towards him. He'll never even see us. I promise!"

He smiled indulgently and nodded once. "Okay, we'll help him out." I instantly ran to the end of the branch and dove off, catching a thick vine and sailing through the air. My momentum sent me so fast the boy didn't even catch more than a gentle breeze as I passed over him mere feet above.

I heard the parents behind me as they made their way by trees. I didn't understand that. How could you prefer traveling by tree when there were so many rope-like vines just begging to be swung upon. I landed on a large tree and waited til they caught up to me.

"What's better for them?" I asked as soon as they stopped next to me. Carlisle looked at me quizzically.

"What kind of animal will make him more popular?" I clarified.

"Oh. Well there are always deer. But a wild pig would bring more praise." I dusted my hands with a grin.

"Wild boar coming right up." Before I could launch from the tree, Carlisle laid a hand on my arm.

"A wild boar is potentially dangerous, he may not be able to kill it. If he wounded it and it became angry he could be gored to death." I made a horrified face.

"Eww. That's disgusting! Imagine being killed by a pig." I shuddered. "They gross me out." I scanned the forest and looked intently for a satisfactory animal. "I guess we'll just have to make sure he doesn't get gored by a boar."

My eyes lit up when I spotted him. It was the hugest pig I had ever seen in my life. It was ugly as hell and all bristly with two big tusks jutting up out of his jaw. _Ewwww!_ It was so gross just looking at it. "Do you guys eat those?" I whispered to Esme. She shook her head. "Only if I was starving to death and there was nothing else. I hate pigs." I nodded in commiseration and saw from the corner of my eye Carlisle roll his eyes.

"Okay, so how do we herd it without having it charge?" I asked Carlisle.

"If he smells us he will head in the opposite direction," he replied. I nodded decisively and dropped down to ground level. They both followed and we made a loose arc around the pig. Sure enough, the moment he scented us he lumbered in the direction of the Indian boy with a grunt and squeal. I swung up into the trees so I could watch and see if the boy caught him.

The boy was holding his bow and arrow in front of him, a sheen of sweat making his round face shiny. _Oh crap, he had no chance_. Luckily the boar passed him too far for the arrow that whizzed pitifully towards him to cause any damage. Knowing I risked parental wrath, I streaked down and seized the arrow from where it had landed harmlessly. The movement was too quick for the boy to see anything. I charged through the treetops and shuddered for a split second with disgust for what I was about to do.

I dropped down and grabbed the boar by the scruff of the neck. I slammed the arrow into the heart and it squealed loudly as it fell. I instantly returned to the rainforest canopy rubbing my violated hand over and over on my shorts. _Eww, eww, eww!_ I just wanted to wash my hands with bleach!

"That was very dangerous!" Carlisle hissed in my ear.

_Great, they were mad._ I smiled bashfully. "Sorry daddy." He narrowed his eyes at my blatant sweet talking but merely shook his head. We all three watched as the boy crashed through the woods and then stopped dead, his expression dumbstruck as he looked at the carcass of the beast. He picked up a large rock and threw it at the carcass. There was no movement. He suddenly began to shout excitedly, running back and forth by the body.

I grinned with self satisfaction. "See, look how happy he is, imagine how good his night is going to be at home."

Carlisle squeezed my shoulder and smiled gently. "Yes he is happy. And now we need to be going as there are many more humans coming."

This time I followed them as we made our way back to the shore where our boat sat gently rocking on the water.


	5. Immortality Can Be Such A Bitch!

**Gosh... It's been a while since my last update. Sorry all! It's been crazy busy and my stupid computer keeps crashing on me over and over. I lost all of my data several times right when I had things how I wanted them. Now I save my document every couple paragraphs. I never know when it might decide to shut down! But I have a couple of chapters I'll be posting today. Christmas Eve and Day proved to be fruitful for my writing. Gotta escape the relatives somehow! :D**

**Anyhoo... Hope everyone had a great Holiday; Christmas, Channukah, etc! Thank you as always for reviewing and reading. Love you guys!**

* * *

><p><strong>Jasper POV<strong>

It had been an extraordinarily long five days since Carlisle and Esme had taken Leila to Isle Esme. We were readying ourselves to leave for the airport and I felt a myriad of emotions in the house as everyone did their respective last minute preparations.

Alice was a quivering bundle of excitement, the 'forecast' being continually good was making for a happy little wife. She couldn't wait to go, as much for the sake of going somewhere as seeing our parents and Leila. Emmett was equally psyched for the hunting and seeing Leila, but he was also anxious over Rosalie's mood the past few days. She was such a boiling mass of emotional stew, I purposefully stayed as far away from her as possible. I was used to Rosalie putting off anger and cold hatred at times. Her vanity, selfishness and narcissism were like water off a duck's back now. But these emotions were agonizing to me.

She radiated waves of confusion and misery. She paced through the house slowly as though she was looking for something she couldn't find, and when her searching was fruitless the aching lonesomeness that burdened her made my skin crawl. I just hoped going to Isle Esme would take away what ever she was suffering from.

Edward and Bella were downstairs with Renesmee and Jacob who were both attempting to convince them to allow Jacob to travel with us. I felt eager hopefulness and bitter rejection from outdoors where Seth and Leah waited.

After our confrontation with the Volturi, most of the wolves had returned to the reservation. Because Jacob was around our house so often, Leah and Seth were, by default, around us as well. Though I did know the particulars of the new pack formations, I honestly didn't care enough about their inner workings to give the particulars much thought. I understood why Leah choose to accompany Jacob and Seth wherever they went. She had made it very clear that she would rather spend her time around vampires than be anywhere near Sam.

I felt badly for her in truth. Under her surly, hateful demeanor was an absolutely gutting sorrow. The first time I had felt it had been purely by chance. I had been returning from a quick solitary hunt; (my forced shopping trip with Alice hadn't gone so well for me that day.) She had been running towards the house in wolf form from the direction of the Quileute land. I heard and felt her long before she was near me. Knowing that the wolves generally phased and dressed in the woods before approaching too close to the house, I veered off of my usual route to reach the house. I would have never stopped or thought twice of Leah being near the house if not for what I experienced in the next instant.

A crippling wave of heartbreak, rejection, insecurity and unadulterated grief assailed me so strongly I actually fell to my knees. My stomach contracted and I felt the blood I had just consumed rise uncomfortably. A very low sob broke the evening stillness, more haunting in it's quietness than a full cry could ever be. I didn't want to intrude on her privacy, but I was too shaken by her affect on me to just walk away. I approached where she was very stealthily and when I could see her I stopped. She was standing with her head rested against a tree and her shoulders were slumped, her arms dangling limp by her sides. She was dressed in her customary jean shorts and tank top, but despair shrouded her like a dark robe.

I left quickly, returning to the house as silently as possible. I knew that her pride was one of the only things Leah possessed. Her dignity and privacy were already shredded by the packs ability to read her thoughts in wolf form. She had never said anything later of that particular incident and I acted as if I had never seen or felt anything out of the ordinary.

Now I knew she wanted nothing to do with a trip to Isle Esme, but if Jacob and Renesmee's whining convinced Edward and Bella, she may be accompanying us on our vacation. I was torn. I didn't want Leila upset over the appearance of the wolves on the island, but a part of me thought it might be strategically better to have the initial meeting in that containable space. Alice assured me that if they did go with us, there would be a few tense moments, but everything would be resolved... eventually. She saw a much happier time for the family if we went sans wolves.

Jacob and the rest of the La Push shifters had been made aware of Leila's inclusion in our family and were surprisingly accepting of her, though they had yet to meet her. The elders and Sam were very curious about her inability to bite humans and wondered if she was some sort of hybrid. However with the assurance that she was no threat to the human members of their population, they were content to leave us to raise her for her newborn year with no undue interference. The eight of us, guiding and instructing her in the 'vegetarian' lifestyle, was much better than leaving her to roam free, causing who knows what kind of chaos, therefore heralding the return of the Volturi. If there was one thing that we Cullen's and the Quileute would forever agree upon, it was that we never wanted to see the return of the Volturi to our land.

"Jacob, I don't think it would be such a great idea for you to come this time," Bella spoke kindly from below. "Esme said that Leila has been really happy and if you were to show up, she might freak out."

"I can play nice. I promise, she'll like me; us." Jacob used his wheedling tone on Bella and I could hear Edward's teeth grind.

Bella uttered a soft sound, somewhere between a chuckle and a groan. "It's not about you playing nice or her liking you. You didn't see her the first time she caught your scent. It's something instinctive in her; she just reacts. And she is strong!"

Jacob let out a proud exclamation. "I'm strong, and fast!"

"Mm-hmm, but Leila's waaaay stronger. She can run faster than daddy too." Renesmee's delivery of that information bordered on hero worship. I felt Jacob's stung pride at his little imprint's favor towards Leila and had to smile.

Alice looked out of the closet quickly where she was doing inventory to make sure she hadn't left anything vitally important unpacked. "They're not coming," she informed me before disappearing back into the cavernous depths of her clothing warehouse. I swear, that woman has way too many clothes.

With that reassurance, I hefted the first load of luggage to deposit in the car. It was ridiculous I thought as I did so, that even with the amount I could carry, it took me two trips to take all of Alice's bags out to the car. We were going to Isle Esme. How many layers was she planning on wearing at a time? One small suitcase full of swim suits and I would be a happy man. I smiled at the thought and caught Edward's grin as I passed by the living room. It was nice to be able to relate to him that level now that he was married. It really broadened the spectrum of our relationship, Emmett included.

Being the nice brother that I am, I knocked on Rosalie's door to ask if she would like me to take care of her luggage also.

"Already got it bro," Emmett said as he yanked open the door. I nodded once, my focus centered on Rosalie who was standing at the window with her arms wrapped around herself. A deep sense of melancholy floated around her and she had dark, pinched eyes.

"She won't even hunt," Emmett whispered to me, uncharacteristic solemness in his voice. "She just stands there now. It was better when she was pacing."

Beautiful, furious eyes whipped towards us. "I'm right here. I can hear you, you stupid moron!"

Her stinging words were delivered in a hiss and I stepped back truly startled at her venom. She routinely told Emmett off; I mean, she's Rosalie. But this was really... mean!

He shrugged philosophically and rolled his eyes. "We're ready to go whenever. Guess it's better we're taking the jet."

I nodded with a raised eyebrow. Between Alice's uncontainable excitement, Rosalie's peculiar mood and Renesmee's sadness at leaving Jacob for a whole two weeks, this was going to be quite the trip. We had recently purchased a private jet, actually we bought it specifically for Leila's flight to Brazil. It just made sense to have our own transportation since we had more than enough money to buy it. It made traveling considerable distances much easier as there weren't dozens of tempting humans crammed in close quarters for hours on end. And we didn't have to pretend to have human habits to alleviate the curiosity of flight attendants and other passengers.

Returning to my room, I could see Renesmee outside saying goodbye to Jacob and Seth. Even Leah got a hug, though I could tell she wasn't so enthused by it. I really hoped that something good would happen for her someday to make her happy again. Jacob told us that she used to be a really friendly, out going girl before the whole Sam/Emily travesty.

Immortality could be such a bitch.


	6. Old Time Reverie

**Carlisle POV**

If asked, I would be hard pressed to admit that I felt a love for Leila greater than my other children. After all, they had been with me for decades. In the privacy of my own mind I thought on this as I watched her sleeping. She was sprawled across a wicker lounge on the porch, looking so comfortable and peaceful I felt a twinge of envy at her ability to sleep. I was puzzled at what caused her to sleep at times. It wasn't often, just a sporadic occurrence and as with so many things with her, I was both fascinated by it and frustrated with the lack of answers.

It wasn't that I loved her more than Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice or Jasper, not to mention Bella and Renesmee; it was different. She was my blood relation, a connection to my past and a part of my mother. I was still having difficulty wrapping my mind around everything she had told us the day before, but I believed that what she said was in fact the truth. I had a million questions but I wasn't sure that she would even know the answers for them. Everything she had told us seemed to have come from the woman, Aurora. I should probably go straight to the source and talk to her myself.

I couldn't believe that there was actually a spiritual realm of sorts for the vampire world. Though it explained some things I had heard in Europe and Volterra several centuries before.

There was a vampire named Violetta in Sicily that I had visited when I had left the Volturi. She was somewhat of a legend a she had been turned at the age of sixty-nine and was feared by even Aro. Her creator had mistakenly thought that changing a grandmotherly woman to help care for the coven he desired to create would be a smart move. He was quickly proven wrong when she had effortlessly killed him in vengeance for turning her into a vampire. It wasn't clear what her gifts were as no one could even come close enough without her permission to find out.

There had been whispers in the halls of Volterra about a race of immortals capable of annihilating the vampires at will, but when asked no one would speak of it to me except to warn me against ever broaching the subject with Aro or his brothers. A member of the guard had told me that Violetta would be fascinating to meet and I had followed the directive out of curiosity. After the warnings of her oddities, I had approached her land cautiously, leaving a note of greeting and then waited until she signaled her welcome. I had found her forcefully charming and I, by some miracle, found favor in her eyes. She told me all about her beginnings in the immortal life, but also about her human life, that even seven centuries past, was clear in her mind.

I remember our conversations very clearly. Violetta had told me in detail what she knew of the legend I had only heard spoken of in whispers. She found it greatly amusing that the "dusty three", as she referred to Aro, Caius and Marcus, were so petrified of a mere rumor that they forbade their minions to even utter a word of it.

"Carlito," the name she had decided to call me, "there are many stories, not all of them are true, but it is always good to know the rumors and live cautiously in the case that there may be truth to them."

"The Volturi are afraid, greatly afraid of the legend of the unnamed immortals. It is said that if they chose, they could wipe out our number with no difficulty. No one knows if they are just a myth or reality, but the fear that they are real keeps most in check. The Voice, is the most feared. It is said that they are the leader of this immortal race and with merely a word, they can speak your death into existence. Many say it is a man, but I think if they are real, it is a woman." She had laughed at her own wit, being a staunch feminist eons before the uprising of women.

"Some believe that they are angels or demons, I believe neither. If they are real, they are probably just vampires who have been around longer and have created stories to make others fear them. Perhaps they actually possess superior powers, but I do not believe they are angels of God in any way." She had been raised strictly religious in an even more oppressive home than I had been and we had many discussions of the fate of our souls.

"I have met a few good vampires during my years on this earth Carlito. You are probably the best, but there have been others who I have met who had a pure soul. I believe there is still a choice for us. We do not have to become ungoverned beasts who kill mercilessly. You have chosen a way of life I cannot comprehend and I actually admire your determination to stick with it. To me humans are our natural food source. I like to think that my way of hunting is like the humans. I do not kill the babies or children. I leave the pregnant and nursing mothers unmolested to raise their young. I make sure they are deserving of death or have lived a good life before I take theirs. But most of my dinners are criminals, very bad men."

"I think those who are still good, like you, were angels walking the earth when they were turned and they have been trapped in their immortal bodies." I had been floored by her words. I wasn't an angel; I knew that for certain. Though I did sometimes wonder how I was able to resist taking a single human life, no matter how thirsty I was.

"The immortals I have known in my life who are like you, never live long," Violetta said in warning. "The truth is that most of us are not kind and the good, the gentle are taken down in the quest for power. Watch yourself Carlito, be cautious in how you live. I have become fond of you and would be very angry to hear you had gotten yourself killed." Her words were accompanied by a pat on the cheek and an invitation to have 'dinner'. I had politely declined her offer and as always she had laughed and shaken her head as if she could not comprehend my preference for animal blood.

I had stayed with her for almost a year before moving on. There was something about her that had pulled at an unknown part of me and it had been almost frightening. I had written her the occasional letter throughout the years, but with our desire to stay far from the Volturi, I had not visited her in well over a century. I purposefully did not dwell on thoughts of her around Edward as I had been confused about the odd feelings she had evoked in me.

It was as if there was an instinctive kinship, a knowing of souls. Just faintly there, but enough to unsettle. As I stood watching Leila sleep I realized that it was a faint passing feeling compared to what I felt for this young girl who had explosively entered our life. The knowledge held me in place as I thought back all those years to my stay with Violetta. What if all of the unexplainable differences in the elderly Sicilian vampire were explainable now. What if the reason I felt that way, like there was a lost connection with her, was because she was a part of this race as Leila was and I too – if I truly believed it all.

Maybe it was time to visit and talk with Violetta. In all of our conversations, there had been a shrewdness in her eyes, a guarded wisdom that had told me instinctively that though she was telling me so much, there was more she withheld. I was pulled from my reverie as Leila turned over and almost tumbled off the side of the bed. She opened her eyes and looked around. Frowning, she sat up rubbing her eyes like a grouchy child.

I smiled at the picture she made.

* * *

><p><strong>Leila POV<strong>

"Come here sweetie!" Rosalie's happy voice had me turning from where I was, for some strange reason, hanging wet laundry on a line. She was on her knees in the grass with her arms outstretched to a little dark haired baby standing unsteadily a few feet from her. Her uncovered skin sparkled in the sunlight and I looked around to see if there were any humans with us. The baby was clearly not a vampire, but she was acting as if she was not in the least bit concerned of being exposed.

It was obviously a boy from how it was dressed and I smiled as he took a couple teetering steps before tumbling down. Quick as a flash, Rosalie scooped him up before he could hit the ground. He giggled as she swung him around and tickled his side. It was so strange to see Rosalie so uninhibited and giddy, but I couldn't stop staring at her like this. Her eyes were glowing with happiness and she didn't seem to care that there was anyone watching her with this little boy.

I turned around to see who else was around to see her and felt the edge of my bed. I opened my eyes and looked around bemused. _This wasn't my room._ It took a second for me to get my bearings and realize I had fallen asleep on the porch. I heard a whisper of sound and looked up to see Carlisle move slowly towards me.

"Good Afternoon Leila." He spoke with his usual kind manner and smiled warmly at me.

_Afternoon? How long did I sleep?_

He sat beside me and felt my forehead as if I had a fever. "How do you feel?"

I looked at him feeling odd and said the first thing that came to mind.

"I miss Rosalie."


	7. Oh, For The Love of Rosalie

**Esme POV**

"When did their plane land?"

I grinned as Carlisle chuckled beside me at the impatient question from Leila. She was sitting in the very top of a swaying tree watching the ocean intently for any sign of the rest of our family.

"They had to wait for the sun to go down to leave the airport," I told her for the fourth time. It was just sundown, light enough that you could see quite far but there was no direct sunlight.

Leila had gone from being reluctant to talk to an unstoppable chatterbox in the past two days. I now knew just about every minute detail of her childhood. I was more furious than she was at the way her mother had treated her for the first fifteen years of her life. _How could a woman punish a child for her own sins?_ I couldn't understand taking the miracle of life for granted in such a way? I thought of Leila's response when I had voiced my anger.

"It's okay Esme. If she was as good a mother as you, I wouldn't be able to stay away from her. And then I wouldn't be able to have you as my mom." If possible, I would have cried at her words. When I looked at it that way, I was almost glad in a sense. In her eyes I was the better mother. Just that thought made me so incredibly proud. I would be the best mother on this earth to take care of her and make her feel loved.

She was fairly vibrating with anxious energy as she waited for the rest of our family arrive. Since she had woken up with "I miss Rosalie," on her lips, she had been fixated on seeing her new sister. Oddly enough, her declaration seemed to have influenced Carlisle as he was also looking forward to being reunited with our eldest daughter. Something weird was going on but I didn't know what. My mind was still blown to bits over everything Leila had told us about the Farzhaq and Zamim. I had a hard time reconciling it as truth, but Carlisle believed her and I trusted him more than my own judgment.  
>Leila's twelve hour sleep marathon had provided the two of us with ample time to talk and discuss everything and she had been chatty after waking, her torrential words interrupted only by her periodical whining about Rosalie getting here. She was such a happy sunny girl and I loved her wholeheartedly. I was so giddy with the knowledge that she was Carlisle's niece. I didn't care if she wasn't his actual daughter, she was still a part of him and she was mine now.<p>

While I loved all of my children completely, there was something so new and exciting about having Leila. The others were grown adults in teenage bodies and they didn't _really_ need me. They were all married, and in Edward and Bella's case, parents. But Leila was still so young in so many ways. I wondered if her special ancestry had made her a particularly naïve child as different things she had said and done had made me think of her as sweetly immature. It was almost as if she had been completely spared of the crude jadedness of today's youth. Bella had even commented that although she was clearly intelligent and very perceptive, she had the unpolluted mind of a girl much younger than her sixteen years.

Before falling asleep on the porch she had smiled at me with sleepy eyes. "You don't mind that I'm not as smart and self sufficient as the other ones do you?" she had asked. I smiled now as I thought of that. If only she knew how elated I was to have a dependent child. At my assurance that I did not mind at all, she had nodded and turned over on the lounge she was lying on.

"Good, cause I felt so scared and insecure when I was by myself. I don't think I'm old enough to live without parents. I feel all weird and frustrated having to figure out what I'm supposed to do. And you're such a good mom." With that she had closed her eyes and promptly fell asleep. I was still floating on a cloud of euphoric emotions from her words.

"Oh come on! How long does it take to get here?" The irritated explosion came from a distance and I looked around to see she had moved to higher ground. She was the very picture of impatience as she flitted from treetop to treetop looking for the boat. "Are they rowing over or something?" The exasperated question caused me to laugh outright.

"Honey, if they were rowing they could probably get here faster than a motor."

What ever she opened her mouth to say in reply was abruptly cut off as she spied the gleaming white and silver boat on the horizon. She let out an excited yelp and dove between the trees on her way to the water. She hit the sand running as Edward slid the boat neatly beside the dock. Emmett was the first off the boat and he turned to give his hand to Rosalie, who was stepping off after him. He barely had time to register what was happening as he was unceremoniously shoved to the side. He hit the water at the same moment that Leila grabbed Rosalie, laughing in delight as she hugged the living daylights out of her.

Rather than pulling away or reacting in her typical fashion as I had expected, to my absolute surprise, Rosalie was smiling and hugging her back. I watched with an expression I knew mirrored the rest of my family's, as she finally pulled back, but it wasn't away from Leila as I thought. With the absolutely sweetest laugh I had ever heard her give, Rosalie held Leila's face and to my utter shock kissed her. No one moved or said anything as we all watched this foreign display of happiness and affection from Rosalie.

Seeming to not notice or care, she did nothing to resist, but rather seemed to welcome it when Leila hugged her again. "Oh my goodness, I missed you!" was the exclamation from the younger blonde girl. Rosalie touched her face again, "I missed you too!"

**Jasper POV**

The plane ride to Rio was unbearably tense for me and I tried my hardest to block the influx of unwelcome emotions bombarding me. Renesmee was sad over leaving Jacob behind but bouncing with excitement at the prospect of seeing her grandparents and Leila again. Rosalie was still steeped in melancholy. It was a weird, deep sadness and I was selfishly irritated for having to share it with her. The oddest thing though, as we near Rio, some of her angst lessened as she became more excited. _Good._ Maybe she just needed a vacation to cure her of her bad feelings.

As we boarded the boat for Isle Esme, she had actually given Nessie a little smile as the child chattered on and on. As we raced across the open water, her excitement grew in palpable increments. Isle Esme came into view and within seconds I saw a light figure flying down through the trees towards the water. _Leila._ At that precise moment, Rosalie's eager anticipation reached new heights and when I looked at her, I saw her eyes fixated on the golden figure hurtling towards us. Leila's feet hit the dock as Emmett stepped off of the boat and reached out to take Rosalie's hand. Without warning he was flying through the air and landed in the water.

Leila wrapped Rosalie in a hug so tight I thought she might hurt her. She was laughing, emanating the happiest emotional wave I had ever felt from a single being. Every emotion Rosalie had felt in the past week exploded the moment Leila touched her, being replaced by the most incredible joy and unadulterated love. She hugged the young girl back with such fervor and it shocked me when she pulled back and kissed her face. All of us standing around looked at them and at each other, no one seeming to know what to make of this completely unexpected behavior from Rosalie.

Emmett was standing in the water dripping wet, any words he may have spoken being stifled by the complete bemusement he was feeling. Alice just smiled with her hands clasped in front of her, a rapturous look on her face. Of course she wasn't surprised. Edward looked as if he had been expecting it, though the level of intensity was clearly a surprise.

"Oh my goodness, I missed you!" Leila said as she squeezed Rosalie again. Rosalie laughed lightly and touched her face again. "I missed you too!"

"I have something to show you!" Leila bounced with excitement. She began to tow Rosalie by the hand towards the house, skipping backwards with a silly grin. Carlisle and Esme had made their way towards us in the meantime and we had all moved despite watching the scene that had unfolded before us. When Leila reached where Carlisle and Esme stood, she stopped and looked to them.

"She's here!" she told them with eyes that literally sparkled. Carlisle radiated evasiveness, contentment and affection, while Esme was filled with possessive maternal love as they both looked at her. Edward was intently concentrating on them trying to decipher whatever was happening right now. There was definitely something odd going on. Carlisle smiled warmly at Rosalie and instead of the guarded way she usually responded to him, she smiled back, true happiness coming from her. She had never been able to fully get over her anger at Carlisle for changing her, but now there was not a single shred of the resentment that always accompanied her looking at him. When he reached out to hug her, she didn't stiffen or pull away. She seemed to actually relax and hugged him back. "I missed you too," Carlisle said softly.

Emmett elbowed Edward in the ribs. "Dude, what the hell is going on with my wife?" he said in a furious whisper. Edward never took his eyes off of our parents or the girls. Alice still had her hands in front of her, but she had the faraway look in her eyes, that told me she was scanning the future. All of the sudden she gasped and Edward's head whipped around to stare at her incredulously. She shook her head and then looked at him with round eyes.

"It's not that dramatic!" Leila said to the two of them.


	8. Pirates of the Brazilian

****Dear Readers,

I know I had said a while ago that I was publishing new chapters. Well, I was but right as I started uploading my new documents my ancient IBM bit the dusk for good. After completely freaking out about it, I was so depressed at losing everything that I was completely uninspired to try and rewrite all my chapters. Well, I'm finally out of my funk and I have some pretty good news (for myself at least). I found some of my rough drafts on a USB drive I had lost. And my hard drive was recovered! SO, here is the next chapter I rewrote, I don't think it is as good as the first time around, but I hope you like it. Hope to have a few chapters from the hard drive to post tomorrow. So sorry for the loooong wait. And thank you as always for reading and all the awesome things you review!

* * *

><p><strong>Leila POV<strong>

_She was finally here! _I was so happy to be with Rosalie and I knew that she felt the same way. Everyone was looking at us like we were crazy but I didn't care. I couldn't help but smile as I pulled her towards the house. Carlisle and Esme were grinning at us and I stopped beside them.

"She's here!" I bounced with pleasure and though I knew I was completely ridiculous, I just couldn't help it. I was _so_ happy to see her. Carlisle hugged Rosalie and told her he missed her too. _Well, duh!_ Of course he missed her; _how could you not?_ I looked over at the rest of the family, feeling a twinge of guilt over ignoring them.

Emmett was staring slack jawed and I giggled at how funny he looked, dripping wet from his dunking in the ocean. I hadn't really meant to send him into the water; he was just in my way. Alice had that weird glassy eyed look and I saw a flash of her mind. Carlisle was telling them everything that I had told them. Edward turned to look at her and she stared back with big eyes. I laughed at their expressions.

"It's not that dramatic!" I said to them.

Jasper was confused and wary, while Bella stood silently looking like she had no idea what on earth was going on. There was only one thing on this earth that could pull me away from Rosalie at this moment. _Renesmee._ She stood with shining eyes and a beatific smile. I let go of Rosalie's hand and smiled back as I crouched down to hug her. I made sure not to squeeze too tightly, aware that I was capable of hurting her accidentally. She hugged my neck like a boa constrictor.  
>"You were gone for such a long time!" She informed me indignantly. I laughed at that. We had only come down a few days before them.<p>

"Well, now you're here and we can do all kinds of things together!" I told her, leaning back to look at her again. I flashed a glance towards Carlisle and Esme.

"I'm not repeating the whole story again. If they want to know, you can tell them and we'll go swimming." Carlisle looked like he would protest for a moment.

"Since you don't ever forget anything, it's not like I'll need to fill anything in that you miss!" I used my best wheedling voice, not wanting to see the looks of disbelief on everyone's faces. I would rather swim with Renesmee. He nodded acquiescently.

"Do you mind if we go swimming?" I asked Bella. She was, after all, Renesmee's mother.

"Um, no, I don't mind. Sure, you can go swimming," she replied hesitantly. "I'll get her swimsuit." Apparently the luggage had been abandoned on the boat as she returned to it to retrieve Renesmee's swimming attire.

"What the hell is going on?" Emmett bellowed. I had to feel bad for him. He was the only one of the siblings without any extra ability and he looked completely lost in this weird and awkward situation. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of going through all the details of my whole life and heritage. Looking back to Rosalie I smiled winningly.

"I don't want to have to rehash everything so I'm just going to hang out with Renesmee. I'll see you after you guys are done talking though." She nodded with a dreamy smile and I really didn't want to leave her so soon. My aversion to sitting still through a retelling of things won over the desire to stay.

"We're going swimming now," I said taking the yellow swimsuit from Bella as she reached us. I turned towards the house, walking hand in hand with Renesmee. It was so nice to be with her. She was simple and happy. When we had changed, we ventured out to the beach. The family had adjourned to the porch and I heard Carlisle speaking. I paused for a second to watch them before smiling at Renesmee.

"Come on, I want to show you something so cool!" She had no hesitation in running into the ocean with me. When we were up to my chest I stopped.

"Are you afraid to go over your head?" She shook her bronze curls.

"No. I'm a really good swimmer. Jacob says I'm half fish!" I looked at her peculiarly. _Jacob?_ She was smiling expectantly so I shook aside the curiosity.

"Okay. Well, you'll have to hold your breath when we dive. You can hold onto my shoulders while we swim out to the spot." She nodded with her sparkling eyes.

"Okay. Do you swim fast?" I laughed at her breathless question.

"Oh yeah, way faster than the dolphins."

Her eyes grew round. "There's dolphins here?" Her excitement at the thought was clear and I grinned.

"Yep. Next time they come close, we can swim with them."

I was swimming backwards in the mean time and I suddenly flipped around. She shrieked at the unexpected movement and clutched me tightly around the shoulders. I swam quickly to the spot which held my prize. Checking the shore to make sure I was lined up with my markings, I smiled at her.

"Are you ready?" She nodded eagerly. "Okay. Just point to the surface when you need to breathe and we'll come back up."

"Okay."

"Hold on to me when we dive so I don't lose you." She nodded again and clutched me in a four limb hold. She took a deep breath and held it and I dove down.

When we reached the seabed she loosened her grip on me, but held my hand in a steely little grasp. We swam a few yards before coming upon what I wanted to show her. I removed the loose layer of sand from on top of the articles I had discovered several days before. When I stopped at a specific old wooden chest and opened the protesting lid, her eyes just about popped out of her head and she frantically pointed to the surface.

I smiled as I scooped up the trunk and shot upwards with her. I couldn't wait to see the expressions on everyone else's face when we brought it to shore.

* * *

><p>"Mommy!" Renesmee shrieked as we surfaced where I could just stand. She was fairly vibrating with excitement. "You guys have to come see this!" There was no cloak of maturity or the little adult mind she sometimes presented. She streaked towards the shore in the direction of the eight adults that appeared on the sand.<p>

They were all looking at us with interest, the only ones not looking perplexed were Edward and Alice. Of course they wouldn't; she had already seen it and he had seen it in her mind and now in Renesmee's. She had reached them and was talking rapidly as she pulled her parents towards the water by the hand. "It's so awesome! There are just boxes and boxes full of awesome stuff! We brought one back but Leila said maybe we could get some more stuff."

I was walking through the water carrying the recovered treasure chest carefully by the bottom. The wood was old and water damaged and I was afraid it would crumble and the contents would be scattered across the ocean floor.

No one moved as they stared at me. I reached dry sand and dropped to my knees as I set down the box. I opened the top and the ancient rusted hinges screeched as they opened and one of them broke in two. When the contents were revealed I heard several gasps. I didn't look away from the loot as I felt mesmerized by the view in the sunshine. I felt a gentle thud and looked to my left to see Rosalie in the same position as I was. Her eyes were round and she sighed reverently.

"Holy shit!" Emmett whistled and I smiled as I dug my hand into the trunk and came up with an armful of treasure. Sure it was covered in algae, slime and sea water, but who cared? It was as if someone had thrown half of the crown jewels in a box and handed them to me. Rosalie followed suit and laughed delightedly as she came up with a bunch of pearls, each the size of a marble.

"Where did you find this?" I looked up at Carlisle's question and smiled hugely.

"It was like three miles out. I found it the day I went exploring but I wanted to save it to show Renesmee." She was jumping up and down, pulling Bella over to explore the sparkling and shining jewels. Ignoring the men, after all guys don't have the same appreciation for beautiful things as women do, I pulled out a hammered gold necklace with rubies inset in the front. The blood red jewels were set in a pattern that made a surprisingly intricate flower. I loved it.

"There's more than this?" Rosalie asked. I nodded and grinned.

"Oh yeah, there's like a full ship's worth of trunks just under the top layer of sand. This was just the easiest one to get."

Carlisle, along with the rest of the male family members, was crouched near the chest, studying the pieces inside. I scooped handfuls of the jewelry out of the box and put them in the lid. He used one finger to move the artifacts around. "They look extremely old; the designs look as if they are from the 1700's."

I shoved at least a dozen gold bangles on my wrists and then found a fancy looking harness thing that after untangling looked like some kind of belt. I fastened it around my waist and saw there was a connecting chain that was meant to attach to a necklace. I fished out a necklace of a similar style and made the whole contraption fit together. It was like some kind of gaudy harem girl accessory. I looked up to ask what the other girls thought and grinned when I caught sight of them.

Rosalie had a triple strand of the giant pearls around her neck and matching bracelets. She was digging through, searching for more beautiful things to adorn herself with. Renesmee had what I was pretty sure was a choker on her head as a tiara and had a thick gold chain with three huge emeralds dangling from it. They were so big I almost couldn't believe they were real.

Even Bella and Esme had joined in the contagious wonder and were pulling things out to look at. Alice, little cheater that she was, would put her hand on the trunk and look ahead to see what she would find. A split second later, her hand would plunge into a specific spot before coming out with exactly what she had seen.

I glanced at Carlisle who was now standing a few feet back with the rest of the boys. All four of them were staring at us with the incredulous look of men the world over when they see women basically catatonic with pleasure over jewelry.


	9. Rosalie  the Third?

**Okay... Here's the next chapter. I hope people like it. I'm a little insecure after the whole computer fiasco, because it really knocked the momentum from my story. I'm pretty much recovered now :D but I still worry that I've lost my audience.**

**I promise a chapter a day for the week end! Happy trails. Oh! Check out _Pretending_ by WildHope83. I have never really liked the wolves but she made me absolutely love Paul. It was a pretty good story.  
><strong>

**Rosalie POV**

I was feeling really uncomfortable now. I saw my different family members stealing glances and Edward concentrating fiercely on my thoughts as well as Carlisle and Alice's. With Leila away from me, there was a palpable measure of embarrassment in my reaction to her but I couldn't stop thinking of how glad I would be when she returned from swimming. _What was it about her that made me so happy?_

What was making me even more uncomfortable was the weirdly intense joy I felt at being reunited with Carlisle. It had taken me decades before I could feel something warmer than hostility towards him for making me a vampire. In the past few years I had become closer to him and Esme, but there had never been great affection for him. Somehow though, when I saw him on the beach, the last remaining vestiges of my inner turmoil and sadness had evaporated. It was as if Leila made me happy, but Carlisle made me feel safe in a way I hadn't experienced since I had last seen my father. It was as if with him everything was safe and good and anything that wasn't would be made right.

It was the first time I had ever hugged him.

**Carlisle POV**

I watched Rosalie carefully as we all engaged in conversation. After Esme and I were finished telling the story of Leila, there had been a little pause of complete shocked silence before a quiet explosion of questions and opinions. During the night I had thought about many things that I seen and experienced over the years. One thing kept coming to mind over and over.

While living in Rochester, I had met Rosalie's parents at a hospital fundraiser. Something about her mother had made me feel odd, but I had put it aside in my mind as I could not think of a single thing that could cause a reaction in me from the blond human. She had seemed very physically fragile but had this intense energy radiating from her. Through information I had acquired and then Rosalie's own words, I came to think of her as a woman determined to make her daughter have a good life. It was as if she was desperate for her to have every perfect clichéd aspect of a prosperous, desirable human life.

Now, as I ruminated on it some more, I thought of something nagging at the back of my mind since Leila had said there were only three Zamim born to Farzhaq mothers but she didn't know who the third was or if they were even alive. Like a flash of lightning I suddenly knew. Well, I didn't really know for sure, but I had this weird feeling as I had an epiphany.

It was Rosalie. _She_ was the third Zamim born to a Farzhaq mother. _Look at me thinking these names in such a normal way_. It was like I had fully embraced this mythical race and was already incorporating them into my thoughts.

As crazy as it sounded, what if Rosalie's mother had done the same thing as Leila's grandmother Violet? Aurora had told Leila that Violet did not want to force her daughter Iris into a life and society of beings that she knew nothing of, so she had kept it a secret, protecting her daughter from the Farzhaq's choice of husband.

If it was true and Rosalie really was like Leila and I, it could have been that her mother did not want her to end up in the realm of vampires and lore so she had tried to force this perfect human life into existence. I was probably just wildly speculating on things that were not even close to the truth, but I was somehow convinced that Rosalie really had been a Zamim.

I looked at Edward curiously as he was participating in conversation with his siblings. I would have thought that with the thought train I was on he would be concentrating on my mind. _That's odd_, I thought. He turned and looked at me with a slight frown. _Well, he heard that one_. I smirked and he looked even more confused. I shook my head. "It's nothing really, just amusing myself with my own thoughts," I murmured ironically.

"I think the first thing we need to do when we get back home is fetch this Aurora lady and interrogate her ourselves." This opinion came from Jasper and I saw Edward and Emmett nod in unison. As I had thought this myself I spoke up to support him.

"I agree. However, I think we should be careful in our approach. Aurora is not the enemy and we should do nothing to put her on guard or think us dangerous. Even if we don't fully believe in all of this, there is a little bit of wisdom that was given to me a long time ago in Italy. 'It is best to know rumors and myths and live cautiously in the case that they could actually be real'." Esme had slipped her hand into mine and I squeezed it slightly. I knew she was thinking of Keiran and how gravely he had injured her. He had been a part of this and I knew from our conversation a few nights ago that she was nervous about a new dynamic in the immortal world. "If we treat her as an enemy and this is all real, it could prove to be very detrimental to our family to be on the bad side of these 'guardians'." Jasper nodded in agreement at that statement.

"I think we are all very aware that we need to be as well informed about everything as possible to keep our family safe." I didn't think bringing up Violetta and giving a whole explanation of who she was and how I came to know her so well would be right at this time, so I left that subject to rest until a better time. I wanted to know everything we could find out from Aurora before I invited Violetta to visit.

_This was shaping up to be quite the year and here I had been thinking that everything was settling back to normal. _

I stood and smiled at my older children. It was a little different to look at them now. They all seemed so mature in comparison to Leila. I knew I would still treat them as I always had, but Leila had been right when she told Esme that she_ needed_ parents. Maybe the older ones needed a leader and the family that all of us made together, but they didn't really _need_ Esme and I to parent them as if they were young children. They were 'senior citizen's in teen age bodies' as Leila had said the other day.

"Why don't we just enjoy a family vacation, and leave all of these worries to be dealt with later. It has been a while since we've been able to just lay back and relax with out a single thing to worry over." I received enthusiastic agreement at my statement.

"It'll be nice to be without the dogs for once," Rosalie muttered and Emmett chuckled. "Oh admit it Rose, you already miss them a little bit." That caused everyone to laugh outright, breaking the serious mood that had accompanied the telling and conversing of earlier. Edward stood and looked out towards the water.

"They're coming back now, they're very close." He smiled. "From Renesmee's thoughts, they have discovered the eighth wonder of the world." We had all moved to stand on the sand watching as they surfaced and then Nessie streaked through the water towards us. She was quivering with excitement, looking as if she would burst.

"Mommy!" She was shrieking in delight. She looked at all of us as she hit the shallow water and ran up the beach. "You guys have to come see this!"

* * *

><p><em>This<em> turned out to be a very old chest filled with jaw-dropping jewels. According to Leila, there were a lot more boxes where she had found this. I watched alongside my sons, as our wives joined Leila and Nessie in rifling through the loot and trying it on. Esme was had chosen the least gaudy items, her natural preference being for the pieces which were more architecturally inspired.

Leila was adorned with so many items and in such a way that the only thing missing was a pair of sheer harem pants and she would've looked like a sultan's concubine from old Arabia. Rosalie had discovered strands of the most enormous, perfectly matched pearls I had ever seen. Bella was a little more hesitant than her sisters, but between them and her daughter she had joined the billion dollar dress up party. And Alice looked blankly in flashes as she pulled out pieces and considered them.

"She's already matching them up with outfits," Edward murmured and we all started laughing. _Of course she was._ Esme looked at me quizzically and stood, crossing to stand next to me. She looked rather perfect with the necklace she had on. She grinned as she looked back at Leila.

"She actually found her pirate ship."


	10. Quick Note

I realized after posting this yesterday I forgot to include the name of my new story.

Well, I know I said I'd update a chapter a day for the weekend, but I got this really awesome PM that told me I shouldn't feel pressured to force my creativity. So, in light of that bit of much needed wisdom, I took a deep breath and just did my thing to get in the zone of writing. Once I did this however, I was not inspired to edit the next chapter. Rather a little idea that has been in the back of my mind for a while started taking shape and I wrote out the first chapter in like twenty minutes. Sooooo, even though I have other stories in progress I decided to go ahead and give this new one a shot. I hope people like and let me know if it's a direction I should continue in. And I will definitely put up the next chapter of this story tomorrow. Somehow, getting my head out of Vita for a while and going after something totally different makes me all inspired! :D

**Please read my new story - EMILY'S LITTLE WOLF and let me know what you think. :)**


	11. Just a Family on Vacation

******Hey everyone! Little note. I know that Leila's older brother's name was Max in Cold Dusk but I have changed it in accordance with my storyline needs... It's Kalib now (pronounced just like Caleb). Hope you like!**

* * *

><p><strong>Leila POV<strong>

"Last one to the falls is a rotten egg!" I rolled my eyes at Emmett's shouted teasing.

"Real mature! My five year old brother says that, you dweeb."

He merely threw back his head and laughed at me. I bounced in place as we waited for Rosalie to come out of the house. Renesmee and I were hiking up the mountain to swim at the waterfall with Emmett and Rosalie. I had realized immediately the system that had been unofficially set up. Everyday, one of the couples in the family would do something with me and Renesmee while the other three would disappear for hours. I wasn't stupid, I knew that being married or together, they wanted to take advantage of the awesome setting we were in to spend some alone time.

Edward and Bella had taken us on the first day to see the waterfall they had swum at on their honeymoon. Renesmee and I decided it was one of our favorite places on the island and had already been back with Jasper and Alice. This time I had challenged Emmett to hike at a human pace, not using any speed or ability to aid in making our way. He said it was ridiculous and I said he was a wussy.

I liked it when Emmett and Rosalie hung out with us. He was this big crazy, silly guy and Rosalie was just nice to be with. I didn't know why I liked her so much, or why I felt the most content being with her, but she felt familiar and peaceful. I liked her smile too, even though she was the most solemn of the family. When she smiled it made her so pretty. I mean, I know she's like perfectly beautiful and all that, what vampire isn't, but her smile made her completely transform. I think she liked being with me almost as much as I liked her.

When she finally came out of the house, Emmett shouted his taunt again and she looked at me, shaking her head at his folly. We started out at a human pace. Renesmee thought it was hilarious, and I had to agree. We were hiking like a bunch of soft humans, clambering over huge rocks and pushing aside branches and foliage like they were true impediments to our progress.

"Come on, this is taking forever!" Emmett whined. The three of us females laughed at him.

"Wussy!" I said in response. He narrowed his eyes and continued up the hill. I saw his muscles tense. _He was about to take off!_

"Uh, uh! You cheat for one step and you go back to the beginning at a human pace and retrace your steps up at a human pace," Rosalie chided him. Apparently she too had seen him ready himself to run. He huffed out a breath like a little boy robbed of his opportunity to do something fun.

"Fine!" He plodded on and even with his exaggerated movements, he still moved with an innate grace that was almost comical in light of his stature. I smiled as a thought crossed my mind.

"Hey Emmett?" he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, obviously expecting further teasing. "What would you think about going Killer Whale hunting?" His eyes shot open wide and a huge grin split his face.

"Seriously?" he asked, enthused. I nodded with a grin; _one down, one to go._

"Yeah, I went swimming with some dolphins and I thought, '_what the heck_, _Orcas would be so much more fun to ride'_." Rosalie was staring at us with mouth agape.

"No! Absolutely not! You don't even _think_ of taking her near killer whales," she hissed at Emmett. I rolled my eyes and looked at him. "That's what Esme said too. I told her I would go with you and Jasper, so it won't even be dangerous."

I smiled winningly at Rosalie. "You could come too," my offer was said in a cheeky manner and she narrowed her eyes in a scowl.

"I want to go too!" Renesmee chimed in. If Rosalie had blood pressure I was sure it would have been off the charts. She was completely lost for words as she glared at the three of us.

"No one is going whale hunting! Especially the two of you!" she added pointing at Renesmee and then me. We grinned at her, enjoying the rising fury in her voice.

"So you don't want to go with us?" I asked again and her eyes widened further as she gasped in outrage.

"You might think this is funny, but you wouldn't be laughing if you had an arm or leg torn off by a killer whale." I rolled my eyes at her.

"I'm not going to be maimed by a killer whale; I just think it would be fun to swim with them. But if you really have an issue with it, we won't go." I had a prim look on my face and I couldn't believe she fell for it. Her face relaxed and she smiled at me.

"Good, I have an issue with it." I nodded with a sweet smile while Emmett looked at me from behind her with an incredulous look on his face. His hands were splayed out at his side, palms up as if to say, _'what the hell'_. I gave him a little head shake and he seemed to catch on instantly, a mischievous grin replacing his irritated look. Oblivious to our little silent exchange, Rosalie continued up the hill with the three of us joining her immediately.

* * *

><p>"Cannonball!" I leaped out of the water at Emmett's thundering call. He landed in the pool when I was in mid air. I aimed and landed on a large flat rock next to Renesmee. She was lying on her stomach with her little chin propped on her closed fists. Her eyes were drooping and I was sure she was going to fall asleep any minute. She smiled sleepily at me and I considered her position in the sun, thinking it looked really comfy and a nap might be really nice just about now. We both looked down to the pool of water at the base of the waterfall. Rosalie squealed as Emmett caught around the waist; well she probably let him, and he kissed her full on.<p>

"Eww!" We said to them loudly. They both looked up and Emmett smiled with a lascivious wink. I stuck out my tongue at him. "If you want to get all mushy and gross, we're going home and you guys can stay here."

Rosalie instantly frowned. "No, we can take you back to the house."

She worried incessantly. Sometimes I wished she could just get a baby somehow to give her someone to fuss over and mother to her hearts content. It wasn't that I didn't like her attention; I just knew she would be happier and more content in life if she had a baby. _Ach! Immortality could be such a bitch in some ways._

Rosalie finally agreed that if we went at vampire speed and went directly to the house, it was probably alright for us to go by ourselves. I mean honestly, _what did she think was going to happen? _We were on an island with eight fully grown adults, who happened to be vampires, and some of them were in possession of extra abilities. There wasn't really anything that could hurt us in the few minutes it took to get back to the house. With Renesmee on my back, I ran down the mountain at top speed. When we were a few hundred yards from the house, I stopped. Paying close attention, I listened for signs of anyone in the house. I didn't want to interrupt anything if someone was there.

Silence greeted us so I walked to the porch, bent down and dropped Renesmee lightly on the wicker chaise lounge. She grinned up at me. "What are we going to do now?" She liked that I was always up for doing something that could possibly get us in trouble. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Though the temptation to do something naughty is great, I feel I must be responsible since I am the adult in our current situation." She giggled at my false hauteur and I collapsed next to her, joining in her infectious laughing. She yawned and I stood, scooping her up as I traveled.

"Where are we going?" She asked me with a little line between her patrician brows. I didn't answer as I had already reached the hammock I had headed towards. It was strung between two large trees right on the beach. As soon as I sat in it, she wiggled herself into a comfortable position. I pushed idly in the sand setting us in gentle motion. Within minutes she was sound asleep.

_This was really nice_, I thought. It was warm, both from the sunshine and the little squirt laying flush against me. I looked at her peaceful face with her rosy cheeks. She was completely relaxed, totally zonked. When she slept she reminded me so much of my little brother Saul. He always looked unconscious when he slept. Times like this when I thought of him, or my brother Kalib, I wished so badly that there was a way to have both of my families. I knew they would like each other. Okay, maybe not everyone, but I knew my dad would like Carlisle and Esme and Kalib would really like Jasper, Edward and especially Emmett.

Lily was like Rosalie in a lot of ways. They both liked the mirror, but there was something better at the heart of Rosalie. I knew Saul would love to play with Renesmee. She liked the mischievous pursuits of life almost as much as he always had. I let my mind wander into a daydream in which both of my families were present in my life and I could pick and choose all the best things of both worlds.

After a while my lazy swinging slowed and stopped altogether. I was extremely comfortable and I thought I might just take a nap for a little bit.


	12. Leaving Paradise

**So, here is the last chapter before they move and go back to regular life. Hope you enjoy... Leave me your thoughts is you have a minute! :)**  
><strong>Next, Leila starts high school with the Cullen's &amp; meets the some of the wolves.<strong>

* * *

><p>"Alice tells me that you, Emmett and I are going after Killer Whales soon." I felt the sand vibrate as Jasper sat next to me. I looked over through my sunglasses and grinned at him. I was using our last day on Isle Esme to sunbathe. Okay, I knew that I wouldn't get a real tan, but I also knew that after tomorrow, there wouldn't be anymore sunshine for a long, long time.<p>

"I was just thinking about asking you when we went hunting later."

He smiled one of his rare full blown smiles. "And Alice saw the minute you decided to."

"Alice also sees that you are not going to get it past Esme or Rosalie for a couple of months," a conspiratory whisper came from Alice as she dropped into Jasper's lap. I turned on my stomach and sighed in exaggerated disappointment. Alice grinned. "Well, you'll be busy at least," she comforted. "When we get home we have to pack, visit some friends, move back to Idaho and then you start school." I groaned, truly bummed about the school issue. It was going to be so embarrassing, I just knew it. In this family chock full of academic geniuses, I was going to be the big dud!

Jasper patted my shoulder in commiseration. "It's not going to be that bad. We'll be right there with you." I crinkled my nose at him and stuck out my tongue. _Mature? No, but hey, I'm sixteen_. Alice continued her rundown of the details of the next month. I half listened, obsessing over my hatred of text book academics.

"So with all of that, we still have to find the time to do a full shopping trip for the school season," she finished with a dreamy smile of pleasure the thought of a _'full shopping trip' _gave her_. _Honestly, I couldn't even begin to think of what all that entailed. I was still stuck on going back to school. I wondered who the _'friends to visit'_ were. Renesmee had mentioned someone named Jacob at least fifty times in the past two weeks and the names Seth and Leah popped up in her speech too. I wondered who they were, but since everyone ignored it when she spoke of them I figured they either weren't important or no one wanted me to know who they were.

"We're leaving to hunt in about five minutes," Alice said to me. "Do you want to change?" I looked down at myself and then smiled impudently at her.

"Do you think my outfit is unsuitable for hunting?" I was wearing a white bathing suit that had a golden tan giraffe print on it.

She rolled her eyes at me. "One swipe from an errant claw and you'll be naked, but hey, be my guest."

I left them and went into the house to dress in something more hunting friendly. This was only the second time we had gone hunting all together since the family had gotten here. Carlisle and Esme, Edward and Bella and Jasper and Alice had all taken me for a quick hunt on different days when it was their turn to be with Renesmee and I. She liked hunting with me she said, but she especially liked our Tarzan activities while hunting. I was seriously going to miss being here on the Island.

I was ready to go and lounging in the boat before anyone else joined me. When everyone was present, Esme took the wheel of our boat and I saw Edward was piloting the other. Renesmee waved at me from where she sat with her mother as both crafts pulled away from the dock. This was going to be a blast. Just as I had suspected, Emmett and Jasper liked to have fun and toy with their prey and I loved hunting the rainforest with them.

As we raced across open water, I realized Esme and Edward were in a race against each other. Even though Esme was a woman, she held the advantage, because for however badly Edward might want to win, he had his daughter with him and he would never do anything to put her in jeopardy. When we approached the mainland I was proud of my new mom! She beat!

* * *

><p>Alice had timed our arrival at the private airport for the early hours of the morning. It was slightly foggy due to humidity and though it was a little light out, there wouldn't be any direct sun for several hours. <em>She was good at what she did.<em>

Due to my excessive feeding the day before, I wasn't thirsty but the few humans we came in contact with made me stare with longing. Jasper had one hand on my arm in a way that looked caring but in reality was placed just so. If I were to try to go after anyone, he would have me in control in a split second.

We were ushered through a small customs area, with just one official. He didn't hardly glance at our passports or ask any questions. He was so busy staring at all of us, especially Rosalie or should I say Rosalie's chest. Emmett gave him a death stare and he jumped before quickly stamping the last of the passports. Carlisle thanked him with a gracious smile and I valiantly held back a giggle as he almost swooned when Esme thanked him also, giving him a beatific smile.

I saw Jasper clench his jaw and I wasn't sure if it was from wanting to tear the guy's throat open or holding back laughter too. I gave him a tiny smirk when I saw his lips twitch. "People are so stupid," I whispered low enough that no human in the vicinity could hear. He gave a little nod and I saw humor in his golden eyes.

Even though it was early morning in a private airport, there was still a considerable amount of people present; both workers and passengers waiting for their planes to be brought to the small gates. The airport was pretty swanky I thought. There wasn't the need to cross the tarmac to climb into your plane. There were miniature accordion walkways like in commercial airports that went right to your airplane's door. It was convenient for humans who didn't want to go out in the heat of Rio and convenient for us to keep out of possible sunlight.

I caught the blatant stares as we walked down the wide corridor. I didn't blame the people staring. I could see what they saw; ten impossibly perfect looking people walking with more grace than the Victoria's Secret angels. To the people watching us, we were just a procession of tall handsome men with painfully pretty women on their arms. And then there was Renesmee, with her long glossy curls, deep brown eyes and rosy cheeks. I was carrying her and she was looking from her position lying on my shoulder with a tiny frown. She wasn't happy to be woken up so early by the boat trip and then transferring to the car for the ride to the airport.

I saw a boy around my age, eating a Danish pastry. It looked incredibly delicious and I stared hungrily at it. If Rosalie missed chocolate, I missed pastries of all kinds; cakes, cookies, croissants, pies, just basically anything sweet and baked. He raised his gaze as if he could feel me looking at him, and his jaw dropped open as he stared back. Feeling an evil little urge, I smiled slowly and gave him a little finger wave. He coughed and I could hear his heartbeat speed up to an incredibly fast rate.

"That is mean," Bella whispered from beside me. I gave her a quick glance before staring back to the boy. He was watching our progress and as we turned the bend I smiled again before disappearing from his line of sight. "He's about to have a stroke," Bella murmured. "Believe me. I might not remember everything a hundred percent, but I remember seeing the Cullen's for the first time as a human. It's a pretty intense experience. He's going to have heart palpitations his entire flight."

"He's going to have _'palpitations'_ alright, but I don't think he'll be suffering for it." Emmett had joined the conversation uninvited. "Believe me, he's going to enjoy the memory of a smoking hot girl smiling and waving at him. And every time he eats a Danish, he'll think of it again and have some more _'palpitations'_."

Even I got what he was saying. I gave him a disgusted look as Bella punched him lightly in the arm. "You've got a sick mind Emmett Cullen," she said and he grinned at her. "Yeah, I know, but your mind is just as bad, because you knew exactly what I was saying and I didn't use a single dirty word." Though the entire exchange was clear to all of us, no human even a few feet away would have been able to decipher more than a few words here and there.

We didn't have to wait for our plane to be readied. It was sitting at the assigned gate, fully fueled and waiting for us. There was a pleasant looking man like fifty or so, waiting next to the walkway. I recognized him from our flight down here. He was the pilot Edward and Jasper had hired. We boarded quickly and after assuring Alice that 'yes all twenty three pieces of luggage were safely stowed' he took his place in the cockpit. He didn't question the lack of a flight attendant and I wondered if he would need anything during the long haul to Seattle.

I wish I could control the damn thirst long enough to get my freaking license. I was momentarily startled at the whispered wish in my mind. It hadn't happened in a while, our time at Isle Esme seemingly laying aside any desires for more in life. I glanced at Jasper who was looking forward with just the slightest bit of a pinched expression. Hmm, something to consider – find a way to erase Jasper's intense thirst.

Renesmee was asleep before we even reached altitude. I was thinking about the treasure trove of jewels we had recovered from the bottom of the sea. Alice and I had brought a small suitcase of our favorite ones home and then stashed the rest. I didn't think anyone could possibly find the ones we left on the island no matter how smart they were, they just simply wouldn't think of looking where we had left it. I had to give it to Emmett; he had a pretty smart idea.

We had turned a boulder the size of a dump truck on its side, split off the bottom, hollowed out a cavern inside of it, and packed the loot carefully before replacing the rock in its original place. Not only was it water and air tight how we left it, but it was far too heavy to move without a massive crane… or us. I smiled as I slid down in my seat and turned on my iPod. It started playback on 'Peponi -The Piano Guys' cover of 'Paradise by Coldplay'. _Perfect! _

_Now if I could only find a way to get out of school._


	13. Moving Day

**Hello all! Small note: I know there isn't a large town called Deacon in Idaho... It's completely made up. But hey this is fiction! :) Thanks for reading, and _reviewing_. I do not own twilight yada, yada, yada.**

* * *

><p><strong>LEILA POV<strong>

"Take the six racks of clothes from my room to the small truck and stack all the boxes of shoes between the two rows of clothes. Then put the totes of bedding at the end." Alice was directing Emmett and Jasper regarding the care of her things. I smirked at them from behind her back. Emmett narrowed his eyes making a face back at me while Jasper stared momentarily and I felt a frisson of fear race down my spine. It didn't make the situation any less humorous though. Alice had already filled a large PENSKE rental truck with the contents of her bedroom and one of her walk in closets. She actually complained, seriously; she complained that Jasper had four boxes of his history books to put in the truck. Now she was using a smaller BUDGET truck for closet two. Of course one of her TWELVE racks of clothes held Jasper's things, but that didn't make a dent in her vast array of clothing.

Today was Moving Day.

I had packed all of my stuff last night and had it neatly stacked on the front porch, ready to be loaded before sunrise. Of course being the only single person in the house I had the whole evening free. When Emmett had pulled in with the first rental truck, I was sitting on the porch railing waiting to load my relatively small pile. While waiting for Rosalie and the four men in the family to return with the trucks, I had helped Esme pack everything on the first floor that we were taking. A lot of the furniture and decorations were being left in place as the family had unanimously decided that we would always keep this house. After we had moved the boxes of what were taking to the porch, Esme and I had put white slip covers and drop clothes on the couches and other furniture.

There was now a conspicuously bare spot where Edward's grand piano had sat. Instead of buying a new one for the Idaho house, he had brought it with him to the new house. When the family had come back to wait for me, he had moved it back here again. He said something about how it was his _'forever piano'_ now; it was the piano he had written songs for Bella when they first met and just held too many freaking fond memories to discard or leave behind. It had been loaded with the utmost care into one of the trucks and was so securely fastened and padded that a human would have a difficult time extracting it from the cavernous inside of the moving vehicle.

I wasn't too sure how I felt about moving to a new place. I was just barely adjusting to my new life in a new place with a new family, and now, not only were we moving to _another_ new place but to my horror of horrors, I had to start school over again. Like, _as a freshman! _ I had never been academically inclined and the only thing I loved about school was my friends and the whole social end of the spectrum. I didn't mind English, creative writing or art, but I loathed and detested Math. The only subject that I ever got a little excited over was history. I loved to read and I loved reading about history, especially wars.

I was pretending to be an ostrich about that particular upcoming event… you know, head in the sand, but Alice kept insisting everything would turn out good. She didn't know the reason I was upset about school. She just thought I was nervous about the whole _'being around humans'_ part.

I watched now as the boys each carried a rack of clothes down the stairs. I wasn't going to help them, they were plenty strong and _they_ didn't have to go to New York on a week long shopping spree. Okay, yes I was very excited about shopping in New York City, but at the same time I already felt exhausted and we hadn't even left yet. I had been shopping once with Alice since we had returned from Isle Esme. It was only in Seattle, but at the end of seven hours I was ready to wave a white flag and beg to go home. She was an unstoppable force of nature in clothing stores and I understood why Bella was staunchly refusing to go to New York. Alice and Renesmee were in full persuasion mode but she had yet to budge. Rosalie predicted when the threat of no jeans or sweatshirts was made, she would cave.

Alice would do it too; buy her all ridiculous designer clothes with nothing even remotely Bella-friendly. Jasper was insisting on coming with us, saying that one of the men needed to be on hand in case something was to happen. _Why,_ _because we were such delicate, fragile women? _Esme said the boys and Carlisle would take everything and unload in Idaho and we -the female side of the family- would fly from Seattle to New York. I liked watching Esme in Mama Mode. What she said was final and if you had an issue with it, you could take it up with Carlisle; though odds were not in your favor for her decision to be challenged. Strangely enough, Emmett agreed with Jasper in spite of Rosalie's wrath; he thought the guys should accompany us.

Esme said no.

Within minutes the boys had everything Alice owned stowed in the two rental trucks with just a few things overflowing into Edward and Bella's. There were five moving trucks in all; one was already packed with my small stack at the front of the cargo hold and the rest of the cavern was filled to the ceiling with Rosalie and Emmett's things and everything from the living areas. A second truck was over half full, exclusively filled with the contents of Carlisle's office. _How did one person cram all those books in one room and still make it look neat?_ Esme was now packing up her bedroom and the boxes she was filling with incredible speed were being carried down by Carlisle to be stacked at the end of his books.

Whatever breakables there were would be packed into one of the cars and delivered to the house by the boys. Apparently they would each drive a truck to the house in Idaho and then return to drive a vehicle back also. What I didn't understand was why on earth they had moved almost everything they owned back to Forks for the few months they were staying here.

When I had asked such, Alice had trilled a laugh and said, "Everything we own? Not even close! We have more storage buildings than you could fathom, filled with thousands of things. We have been around a long, long time and we acquire more things than you would expect."

"It wouldn't feel right to be in Forks without our stuff," she continued. "The most significant things have happened here and if I had to _guess_," she smiled, "Forks will always be the place we have the most attachment to." Okay, I understood that and they _had_ been back here almost seven months. But I still thought that two moving trucks of clothing, shoes and accessories for one person was a little overboard. That was just Alice though.

"Leila!" I jolted when Esme called my name from the third floor. "Is there any more bubble wrap in the kitchen?" I zipped there and recovered two rolls of it and took it up to her bedroom. She smiled in thanks. "I just need to wrap the two Tiffany lamp shades so they don't crack on the way." _Of course her bedside lamps were Tiffany stained glass_, and I bet they were really antique, like old, old antique. I stacked her framed pictures with layers of bubble wrap and then carried the sealed box downstairs when I finished. Carlisle stowed it in with the rest of their things.

Within an hour the house was completely emptied of everything that was to be taken and all three floors had been closed up for the time the home would be vacant. All of us had helped Edward and Bella bring their belongings across the river and load them into their truck. Due to Bella's low key nature she didn't even have a tenth of what Alice owned and the process took mere minutes.

The guys were ready to drive out and we were going to leave shortly for the airport when there was a sudden change of plans. Alice had a vision; so instead of heading straight for New York we all caravanned to the house in Idaho. I didn't know why on earth anyone would pick Idaho as a good place to live_. I mean wasn't it like the white supremacist militia capital of America? _If I had to live in Idaho I wished I could at least eat, therefore being able to enjoy the pride and joy of the state in all of its glorious preparations. Just the thought of potatoes made me want French fries. I loved potatoes, in all ways. But alas that was not to be.

When I had asked why we were moving just one state away from Washington, I was met again with the weird evasiveness that accompanied certain subjects. _What were they all hiding?_ I mulled over various scenarios in my head as we drove, each one more and more outrageous and implausible.

I was riding with Rosalie in one of the moving trucks. Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper and Edward each drove one of the ugly beasts. Bella and Renesmee were riding with Edward and Alice and Esme each drove a vehicle. They were bringing the most sensible vehicles first, so Esme drove a Volvo and Alice, hilariously, was driving Emmett's huge Jeep. Carlisle already had a car in Idaho that he used to drive into work when he ran from Forks. I giggled at the thought and Rosalie looked over. "What's funny?" she asked with a little smile.

"I just was thinking how Carlisle _runs_ all the way to Idaho and then gets into his car to drive to the hospital. It's just funny to me that he _runs_ all the way there! The mental imagine of him streaking through the woods at a hundred miles a minute and then being all calm, cool and professional a few minutes later," I broke off laughing and apparently thinking of it in that context struck her funny too and Rosalie started laughing with me.

We continued our trip with easy chatter, just having fun together. Rosalie told me the happy stories she remembered from her human life and I in turn told her things about my family. Remembering everything with crystal clarity and the recent timeframe of my life made my stories a lot more detailed and she seemed really interested. She asked dozens of questions and smiled with me when I told her about Saul. When I told her some of the more adventurous troubles he had gotten himself into she laughed outright and agreed that he and Renesmee would get along famously.

I thought of the thumb-drive I had hidden away, full of all my pictures and old life. I wanted to show it to her, but I didn't think it was the right time to. I had a fear that it would be taken away from me and I needed to keep those mementos.

Our conversation turned from the personal to our new home town as we pulled into the city limits of Deacon, Idaho. I looked around as we drove towards our house. Everyone but me had already lived here but I had never even been in the state of Idaho. I was excited to see that the town was at least three times the size of Forks and the main street looked like something out of The Andy Griffith Show. I had asked about what it was like and Alice had assured me that I would absolutely love it. She was right. There had been a major restoration and preservation effort in the town and most of Main St. (or whatever it was really called) was now as it had been sixty years ago.

When we pulled to a stop in front of a large house my jaw dropped. It was the most beautiful home I had ever seen. "So you like it?" Rosalie asked, her smile once again lighting her face. I nodded in silence. I couldn't believe we would be living here.


	14. Settling In

**Okay, here's the last just-fluffy chapter. This book has much less angst and drama as the first book, but I don't want it to be insipid. Anyhoo, room redecoration - check, shopping next and then school. And somewhere in between all of this, she meets the wolves. :)**

**Picture of her new room is up on my twitter... www`twitter`com/Sari_Damien, check it out.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Unpacking our belongings and setting up the house took about four hours. Our usual speed was hampered by being in closer proximity to humans and we had to move outside at a regular pace. Once everything was in the front door, it was delivered to its proper room at top speed. I wasn't much help with setting up the rooms as I was too busy exploring the big house.<p>

The house was a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian style that was technically four stories. There were three full stories, and the fourth was like a finished attic with little rooms that had slanted walls. The first floor had huge living areas with beautiful hand carved trim. Mahogany mantels with intricate designs graced the fireplaces and dotting the rooms were gorgeous stained glass windows that glowed like jewels when the sunlight shone through. There was a formal 'parlor', a full dining room, a massive kitchen and a family den. The front door opened into a huge foyer that held yet another beautiful fireplace and had a curving staircase winding down into the large space. Each spindle had not only been lathe cut, but carved afterwards to have either leaves or tiny flowers winding around with a grooved vine. The newel post was also an ornate wooden masterpiece and gleamed with a severely polished finish.

The entire house made you feel like you were back in the era which it had been built in. Its sheer magnificence made me want to travel back in time and experience the opulence its original owners must have lived in. The furniture that filled the first floor was genuine period pieces from one of the Cullen's many storehouses and Esme said that most of the furnishings had been bought back when they were new by Carlisle. She had also added pieces that had been bought at a later date. The only brand new, modern items were the stylish yet extraordinarily comfortable couches and chairs and of course the massive flat screen TV in the family room. The 'parlor' was genuinely beautiful with nothing more than lighting lending to the current day. The décor held more color than the house in Forks, but much of the antique furniture was made from light wood and fabric.

Esme and Carlisle's bedroom was on the third floor with a large office next door to it for him. She had a smaller room across the hall for her architecture and whatever else she did. Jasper and Alice lived on the second floor with Rosalie and Emmett residing on the opposite side of the same floor. I had been given a choice of any of the empty rooms. Instead of picking one of the huge bedrooms, I had taken one look at my current bedroom and chosen it.

It was on the fourth floor. When you went up the small servant's staircase closeted behind an ivory door, there was a narrow hallway with two doors on each side. Those were the small rooms with sloping ceilings. Esme said they would end up being used for storing things. At one end of the tiny hall was a window. It was divided into four panes and on the top was a half circle of a window. It was stained glass, made of white and shades of yellow, depicting a rising sun. At the other end was a door. It was plain off white but it was old and sturdy with two inset squares like old doors always have. The door knob was like all of the others in the house; bronze colored with designs molded and etched into the metal.

When you opened the door, there was a room of modest proportions. Sloping walls on both sides framed a trio of windows. The center one was a tall, curve-topped rectangle with nine rectangular panes separated with leading. The curved portion was leaded with a triangular pattern. The windows flanking the centerpiece were smaller rectangles with just six panes. There was no furniture in the room, but I could envision what I wanted in my mind's eye. The smaller size and complete lack of a closet were small downside, but the thing that won me over immediately was the bright -gloriously bright- sunshine that those windows let in. The room was positioned at the direct front of the house, the sloping walls being made by a massive dormer. The front of the house faced east and the fourth floor was high enough that even with the brightest sun, I wouldn't have to cover up the windows.

Plus I figured that if I was safely tucked away on my own floor, I wouldn't put such a cramp in everyone's married life. Edward had given me a humorous smile when I had first thought that and then said that he totally knew how that felt. I couldn't imagine him all broody and aloof, but Emmett said in teasing and Esme in total seriousness, that he had been alone for so long and he had been very broody.

Behind the house was a large carriage house that had been converted into livable areas. The first floor had a large room that now housed the contents of the game room in Forks. The second floor, which was surprisingly huge, was a luxurious apartment that Edward and Bella lived in with Renesmee. Renesmee also had a fully decorated bedroom next door to Rosalie's for when she slept in the house.

The one thing that perplexed me and which I got no answer for was the two bedrooms off one side of the game room. Both had obviously been built recently and strangely enough had doors letting in from the outside and were completely sealed from the inside. There was a nice bathroom between the two bedrooms done in slate tile with top of the line fixtures and it was all fully functional. The larger of the two rooms had two twin beds with a flat screen TV. The decorating gave me the impression that it was intended for male occupants while the other room was the opposite. The room was significantly smaller, but there was a double bed and the wooden frame matched the nightstand and dresser. There was a small upholstered chair in one corner and the framed artwork on the walls lent a distinctly feminine air to the room. Although both rooms were fully furnished, the bedding was left in sealed plastic zipper bags on the mattresses. _Weird_, I thought. Weirder still, was that when I asked what it was about, I got sealed lips and a condescending smile from Alice of all people.

Since I didn't want to decorate my room with everything from my room in Forks it looked really bare with just a few boxes sitting in the middle of the floor. Alice had been frantically setting up her closet and when she finished and turned her attention to me, I thought she would have a stroke.

"You!" she snarled at me as I came down the stairs. I froze and looked at her with a moment's trepidation.

"Who, me?" I asked innocently. If she wasn't so freezing cold, she would have been breathing fire.

"Yes, you," she said with deceptive sweetness. I raised my eyebrows and looked from her to Jasper, wondering what the hell had pissed her off.

"You will STOP blocking me from seeing your future; DO YOU HEAR ME?" She had raised her voice in her irritation and enunciated every word as if I was a simpleton. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I didn't do anything!" I defended myself but she just narrowed her eyes marching up to stand toe to toe with me. Jasper smirked behind her and I agreed with his humor. She looked hilarious with her hands on her hips, her black hair flipped out around her face. Actually, she looked like a ruffled banty hen, I thought with a straight face, though I was laughing inside.

"You are living in the ATTIC!" she practically shrieked at me. "You chose a room in the servant's quarters; a room smaller than my closet! And where are you planning to put your clothes, hmm?" She was this upset because I didn't mind not having a walk-in closet? She took hold of my elbow and frog marched me down the hallway. Throwing open a door, she pointed with an imperious finger.

"You will live here. I already designed it for you." I didn't really see the design elements as there was nothing but a bed and dresser. Seeming to see the same thing as me she huffed out a pissed off sigh. "Well, I designed it in my head. I haven't actually got it set up yet." Her tone was sulky like she knew there was wiggle room in her argument. I looked right and then left and realized I was smack in the middle of Jasper and Alice and Emmett and Rosalie's rooms.

"I picked my room on purpose. I like it; I like how sunny it is. Plus I want to live as far from your rooms as possible," I said with a saucy smile. Jasper, who up until that point had kept his amusement silent, laughed out loud. Even Alice's lips twitched at that. "Also," it was said in a persuasive tone, "I kind of thought that you might like to turn the tiny room next to mine into a closet."

Her eyes lit up like I just told her Coco Chanel was in the living room. She squealed and grabbed my arm. "Okay, you're forgiven." She turned me around and went back to the stairs. We were up both flights and she was throwing open the door to the tiny room before I could blink. She skipped into the middle of the room, turning in circles as she perused the surrounding space. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she grinned as she saw something in her mind's eye that she obviously liked.

"Okay, this will work out nicely." I smiled smugly at her back and she whirled around before I could wipe the smile from my face. "Don't look so pleased with your self," she informed me tartly. "When you start school, you can't block my visions or keep Edward out of your mind. So you should start practicing now."

"I don't need practice keeping my mind open. I consciously choose when to block you." She ground her teeth and narrowed her eyes and I swore she wanted to smack me. I grinned impudently and she started chuckling when she realized I was purposefully yanking her chain.

"You're such a bad girl," she said. I rolled my eyes and deliberately decided how I wanted to set up my bedroom. Twenty seconds later her eyes lit up and she darted out the door. "Thank you!" she trilled as she flew down the stairs."

I followed in her wake and Esme smiled absently as I met her in the hall. "Hi sweetie," she greeted and I smiled at her. I was feeling really peaceful and happy today for some reason. "Hey mama," I answered and it seemed to make her really happy. "Do you need me to help with anything?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm good. I have my room finished and the first floor is pretty much already done." She looked at me sharply. "How is your room? _Where_ is your room?" She had been busy setting up her own domain and overseeing the boys replace the few items of furniture that had come back from Forks and she hadn't yet seen which room I had chosen.

I smiled cheekily. "Well, Alice decided on a room for me, but I chose a different one. Want to see it?" She raised her eyebrows at my comment about Alice but she nodded gamely and I turned towards the small staircase. When she saw that I was going up to the third floor she looked surprised but didn't say a word. We reached the topmost floor and she looked around as if seeing it for the first time.

I opened the door to my new room and stood to the side so she could see it. She looked perplexed as she stepped into the room. "It's kind of small, isn't it?" she asked me softly and I grinned. "Yeah, but it's really sunny. Plus it's far, far away from the other bedrooms." She looked almost embarrassed and narrowed her eyes at my impudent comment. Apparently Mama Esme didn't think I knew what adults did. "I'm sixteen," I said with an exaggerated sigh. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"There's nothing in here," she said as she took in the four boxes on the floor.

"I know, but Alice will have it decorated -per my vision- in a couple of days." She looked at me with a certain look in her eye and I suddenly felt bad. "You don't mind do you?" I knew architecture and home decorating was her sphere of things, but I had to throw Alice a bone to get her off my back. She put an arm around my shoulders.

"Of course not; I'm sure that there will be something I can do another time." It was said with a little irony and I knew she was honest when she said she didn't mind.

"I want it all ivory with a little bit of black. And I want the furniture to be dark and kind of old looking; like really, really old."

"How old?" she asked and I pretended to look thoughtful. "Mmm, like as old as Carlisle," I said and she poked me in the ribs but laughed with me.

"I think we might have a few things that would go nicely." She toed the scarred wooden floor. "We should paint the floor a dark color and do some of the trim to match. And the walls need to be repainted." She smiled at me. "Why don't we buy some paint and do it while Alice finds the furniture?"


	15. Rehash and Reminisce

**AN: I know it's been a long time since I updated this story, but real life has a way of throwing your plans off. I needed to really take some time and focus on the overall view of the story and make sure this book worked with the next parts of Leila's series. Hop you like it. I felt like she needed to just take some time and sort stuff out in her mind... I know I did. :) Anyhoo... next four chapters finished and I'll try to post one every day or two. ... Sari**

* * *

><p><span>Leila POV<span>

_How was I feeling?_ Hmm. That was a loaded question if there ever was one.

I was lying on my bed in my new ivory and black room as I just took a few hours to think. I felt a little like I had when I stepped off the roller coaster at Space Mountain. _Or was it the Space Mountain roller coaster?_ Either way I felt like I had been rushing through all these topsy turvy parts of my new life and I really needed to dissect it all and get it straight in my mind. All that had happened felt like it should have been spread out over several years but as I thought now, I realized that it had only been six and a half months since I had been turned into a vampire.

Yes, I said it out loud for the first time. I had been turned into a vampire by my biological father's hero. And my father stood and watched his best friend/mentor effectively end my life.

So, thwu,thwu,thwu,thwu,thwu… or whatever that sound is when they do a fast rewind in a TV show.

It all began three days before my sixteenth birthday. I was literally yanked off the street as I was running home for dinner; (I was late of course.) This really creepy, scary dude tried to eat my neck – well really he tried to suck my blood, but somehow my blood was like poison to him and he shrieked and ran away totally freaked. Now, I realize this sounds too crazy to be true, but it is. Let me explain a little of my history.

I was born as a result of my mother's extramarital affair. My dad who raised me was her husband Razul. He accepted me and even loved me more than she had. You would think that being the injured party in the whole scenario would make him treat me different but he never did. He loved me so completely that I didn't realize until I was almost seven that I looked different from the rest of my family. My dad Razul was three quarters Arab, his surname of Jameson coming from his Irish grandfather on his father's side. This resulted in my brothers and sister both possessing dark hair and skin while I was pale, blond and green eyes. My eyes came from my mother as my oldest brother shared the green color with me. I loved that I looked a little bit like him because I absolutely idolized him.

My mother was completely ashamed of me, the eternal evidence of her adultery and though she never physically abused me, it's safe to say I was completely emotionally neglected my entire childhood with her. But the void was filled somewhat by my grandmothers. They were the best. On both sides, I had fantastic grandparents and I loved them to death. If there was one great regret I had now, it was that I never had the chance to say goodbye to my family.

Gosh, my mind was wandering again and here I was supposed to be sorting it out.

Esme had told me that it was perfectly normal for newborns to have no attention span at all. I supposed that was my problem because it was just so hard to follow one line of thought when there were just so many interesting offshoots to it. But I was determined to think everything through. I was starting school in three weeks and four days. I needed to be completely settled and have no anxious feelings when I began. I had been on short jaunts to human populated areas, but it had always been a continuously movement with shopping. School was different. I would be sitting in small rooms with warm bodies with no movement or stimuli to distract me from just how delicious they really were.

_So back to my story, brain!_ I smiled at my own mental command.

When I was attacked, I had bled all over the place and when trying to find the road from where I had been dragged into the woods, I had instead fallen over a cliff into a small river. For ten excruciating days I thought that my body was burning from the inside out. I couldn't endure it but I hadn't had a choice. When it was over I felt amazing. I felt strong and fast and smart. And most of all I was raging with anger.

There was only one thing I could focus on. I didn't even care about the raging burn in my throat; the only thing that wasn't perfect after my healing process. I didn't care about the sparking sunlight and dancing dust motes in the air. Seeing everything clearly and I mean clearly like the whole world had been put under a massive microscope, held no wonder for me.

There was one purpose in my life from the moment I stopped burning and I was single mindedly focused on it. I was going to hunt down the bastard who killed me and do what I had promised him as I was choking on my own blood_. I was going to kill him back._ I had found the place where he had attacked me and though it was almost eleven days old, I picked up his scent and followed it like a dog.

_I had never allowed myself to think about this_, I thought idly. At first I had been too horrified by the memory of what I had done with no hesitation and later on I had been too petrified of the Cullen's rejection if they found out what I was capable of. Alice had seen it however when in an unguarded moment I had granted her wish to re-see a vision fully. She had seen me kill my murderer and I had fled when I realized they knew what I was.

Now, I thought about it in detail.

I had tracked him doggedly, staying invisible from people as I got closer to my prey. There had been a part of my mind then that was almost shocked at my own actions and feelings, but that little human part was shoved ruthlessly to the side as my new nature came to the surface. There was a need, a _compulsion_ to find the creepy, scary monster and kill him dead. To be honest, he was technically a beautiful monster; a devastatingly handsome male specimen. But when you saw his eyes and his countenance, there was just this terror that gripped your insides because you saw that you were looking at pure evil.

The hour I found him, he was repeating what he had done to me. He had a helpless young girl and he was taunting her, telling her that he was going to toy with his dinner a little before he ate it. She had been beyond terrified, screaming in pain and abject horror and I had felt an uncontrollable rage towards him. The scene had been like something out of the scariest movie ever made and I could almost taste the fear rolling off the girl as she knew that she was going to die a horrific, agonizing death.

Somehow I could see that he was a serial killer. He _liked_ to torture people before he killed them. I had just flown at him and I was shocked with how fast and vicious I was. I had reached to grab his arm and it had just torn off of him. I didn't even stop for half a second in my shock before I went at him again. He looked at me in absolute surprise and I had given a snarling grin that was not humorous in the least.

"Didn't expect to see me did you?" My voice was a feral hiss and his eyes were even more shocked if that were possible. I punched him in the chest and I was almost thrown off by the crater my fist left in it. Where I made contact a fist sized indentation was made and the clothing shredded off under the blow. He had gasped and put his hand up to the bizarre wound.

"Not possible. You're not The One!" His weird choice of words didn't stop me as I lunged and twisted his head from his shoulders. I didn't know why I tried to twist a head off a body with my bare hands. I guess I didn't think of it. I just did what instinct told me to do. It wasn't any harder than popping a flower off its stem and I had watched with more fascination than fear as the body and head in my hands disappeared into a swirling shower of reddish gold light. I had felt warm as it happened and felt different afterwards. I didn't know why or how I was different, but I knew that I was; whatever was in that golden light had changed me.

When he was completely gone, I had run out to the nearest hint of civilization carrying the human girl who had passed out from fear and pain long before I had killed him. I had dumped her outside a convenience store and ran before I ate her myself. The only thing that kept me from trying to feed on her was the knowledge that she had almost gone through what I had and I couldn't do that to her. No one ever deserved to feel the pain he had inflicted on me.

I wandered after that, tried to feed on several people and I couldn't bite down. It made me insane with anger; I could not physically close my jaws into their throats. I had resorted to drinking from blood bank stock. It was cold and had a weird texture, but it kept me alive and eased the horrendous heartburn that was ever present. And then I met them; my new family.

I thought of my first day with them. I smiled at the memory, crystal clear and yet it still felt like a lifetime ago. I had caved at the promise of a shower and followed Carlisle, Edward and Alice home. The hot shower and clean clothes were the best things I had experienced in a long time. When Alice had led me back downstairs and sat me down, I had freaked out big time. I don't mean like a little bit upset. I went completely nuts over a few questions and pulled a few gymnastics moves to flee. I had been caught at the back door and it had taken Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Carlisle and Edward to restrain me. I think that was their first indication that they were dealing with a weirder than normal newborn. To their complete shock (I didn't notice at the time) I had gone unconscious and slept for a long time.

That was when they figured out that I still had a heart beat; it just beat every thirty six seconds. Somehow my humanity was holding on a little bit. It was thrilling news for Carlisle; I secretly think he would like to do a few experiments and tests on me. _As for moi? _I don't really care. I'm not human anymore; I can't go home and see my family, I'll never eat human food with the same enjoyment anymore, so I don't really care if my heart beats every thirty six seconds.

After I woke up from that first unconscious/sleep session, I had been calmer but a little wary of the Cullens. I had finally, out of dire thirst and sheer vampiric nature, gone out on an aborted hunting trip. Although I had disastrously failed in feeding myself, I had saved an innocent girl from being raped and maybe murdered.

That night was the first time I had hunted animals. Jasper had followed me even though I had turned his own gift on him to get away in the first place. He had led me away from the alley where I had tried to eat a man (drink his blood – whatever.) He had been compassionate and almost like a big brother as he had calmed my distress. I had felt an odd sense of satisfaction from him at my loss of control and desperation to feed from a living person. And when he had introduced me to hunting carnivorous game, I had almost crushed him afterwards when I had hugged him in thanks.

If I had to live as an undead being, I just thanked whoever was the god of vampires that I had been given the Cullen family. They accepted me as part of them with no barriers or reservations.

I had still kept to my room after that first hunting trip, feeling too emotional to be around everyone. Esme had finally dragged me outside and I had met the baby Renesmee. She didn't look like a baby, she looked about three years old, but I thought of her as the baby. We took to each other immediately and I was so glad that she had been born; being with her helped the ache of missing my baby brother Saul.

The Cullen's had taken me to meet their 'cousins' in Alaska and that had been an awesome trip. I liked them all but I really liked Tanya. She looked a little bit like a blond version of my sister Lily and the fact that she liked me back was the best thing ever. I had spent my entire human life trying to get my sister to like me and it had never worked.

Anyway, I loved the ice skating and the big game hunting we had done up in Alaska. I didn't even mind so much that Emmett had turned himself into a vampire bomb and blasted through the ice when I was skating. The life like flashback I had experienced had been horrifying but it had also made me closer to Carlisle and Esme.

_Ugh… this dialog is getting lengthy._

_Okay Leila, give the power-through version of events. _I grinned to myself as I turned on the bed. The sun had moved across the room and I wanted it to still hit my face. I loved the warmth.

Back to my life overview; well the last six months of it anyway.


	16. Reminiscing 2

**Hey all! Well, I'm not actually sorry that it's been a while since I updated since I've been enjoying a nice vacation, but if you've been looking for updates from me and been disappointed, I am truly sorry! :)  
><strong>**So now, I'm back in the real world and getting back into the gear of things which includes my beloved stories. I hereby do solemnly swear to upload all of the chapters that have been sitting finished at home while I was out galavanting about and having a good time. **

**Oh! One other thing. I convinced my writing bestie to join Fanfiction and she put up her first story a few weeks ago. It was actually just a smokin' hot one shot that she has now extended. Anyhoo, she's actually been waiting for me to help her develop a plot and flesh out some of the details. She does the citrus; I do the emotional and detail work. Did I mention she's my bestie and I LOVE her? :D **

**Check her out... Mollie Jain**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Leila POV<em>**

When we had returned from Alaska and Jasper had taken me hunting, I had expected nothing more than a normal hunt, just enough to dull the constant thirst that had been made more pronounced by the mental trauma of my near drowning. Well, I know I wouldn't have drown, but whatever.

The event of the man being shot and then me feeding from his pouring wound had dramatically changed my view point on vampire life. Even now, thinking of just how good he tasted made me desperate to feed off a human again. The little blood pouches I had kept myself alive with before I met the Cullens didn't begin to measure up to how blood from a warm living person tasted and I didn't understand how any vampire who could drink freely from a person would resist. I could tell there had been a small shift in the way the family watched me since that incident. Though they didn't blame me for the man's death and knew I had not been able to resist freely flowing human blood, I knew they were expecting me to slip up and try to kill another person.

I wasn't though. Somehow, whatever it was inside of me that Aurora said was _'the light of the holy realm'_, kept me under the control of knowing I could not under any circumstance take the life of another person. After seeing both Keiran and the demon who killed me, I knew I did not ever want to turn myself into what they had been.

After returning from hunting and drinking the hunter, I had weirdly gone to sleep for like nine hours. Everyone was totally amazed that I was able to sleep like a regular person but I was just glad. I loved nothing more than a good sleep. Rosalie had stayed with me and though I wasn't aware at the time that it was her, she had comforted me through a nightmare of when that devil Ghalib had changed me. From the moment I woke up later on I felt the weirdest attachment to her and I hadn't said anything because truthfully, everything I have gone through recently was starting to be overwhelming.

I had been starving when I had awakened and somehow I had the urge to go to the kitchen to find some kind of food. When I couldn't find anything in the fridge, I had become irrationally enraged and flown out of the house and into the forest like a Tasmanian devil. I had hardly taken any enjoyment from my first kill and when I had found a herd of deer, I had been struck by a weird urge to eat one of them. Taking a young buck down easily. I drained it almost completely before taking it with me home. Retrieving a knife from the kitchen, I had skinned a portion of the deer and cut a steak from it. By the time I had returned to the kitchen with my piece of meat most of the family had gathered around to look at me like I had just landed from outer space.

When I grilled it in a hot cast iron pan there were varying degrees of disgust from everyone and I thought Alice might actually puke when I ate the steak. I don't know why; it was delicious. I had never eaten such a tender piece of meat. Curiously enough, the food had actually agreed with me and though I hadn't had the desire to eat since then, I knew I would eat again sometime.

It had scared me when after I had eaten, Esme had said something completely innocuous and I had flipped out. When I say flipped out, I seriously _flipped the f*** out._ Somehow I had only seen her as my birth mother Iris and had gone ballistic. For almost two hours I had been locked in the most bizarre scenario where I was entrenched in a severe flashback while still being subconsciously aware of what was really going on. I had retreated to the roof as Esme - who I thought was Iris - had commanded me to stay in the house. I reasoned that _on_ the house was good enough but the moment I sensed Carlisle was getting close to home I had been off like a shot to meet him.

All my anger and sense of injustice had come pouring out the moment I had seen him and he had just listened until I was done with my rant. He had calmly said that _Esme _loved me and when he enunciated her name it had snapped me out of the weird trance I had been in. It was the second time I had been in such a gripping flashback that I thought I was living in the place my mind had taken me to.

Carlisle had brought me home and the moment I saw Esme I had felt so terrible for screaming at her before. She didn't have a single shred of condemnation in her eyes and had immediately rushed to me, hugging me in a stranglehold. I had burst into tears at her instant forgiveness and love. She had just comforted and reassured me that she was going to take care of me and would never let anything bad happen to me. I wasn't used to a mother who treated me in the way she did and I have to admit that while it makes me feel strange sometimes, I also love it more than anything I have ever experienced.

I had fallen asleep with my head in Esme's lap and when I had woken again several hours later, it had been to find her and Carlisle gone. They had left for Oregon in a quest to find out about how I was as a human. They were going to meet with my dad and try to see if he knew anything odd about me medical-wise when I was still human.

I had been fine while they were gone. It had been amusing when Esme called every few hours to ask if I was okay. I had assured her that I was and that everyone was being nice. I didn't know if she really thought that the rest of the family would be mean to me while she was gone, but I just humored her and said that everything was good.

But it had changed in an instant when I had absently granted a whispered wish from Alice to re-see visions. The moment I had done it, I had heard her gasp and then say the worst thing ever. _She killed him!_

I had known in that moment that she had seen me kill the devil who had made me into a vampire and thinking that they wouldn't want me with them anymore, I had quickly taken my belongings and fled.

I had felt compelled to go home to Oregon and after visiting my childhood home, retrieving some of my most treasure possessions, I had gone for one last look at my favorite street ever. As I had been strolling down my personal memory lane, a whisper from the dark had both surprised and thrilled me. It was Aurora, one of my favorite people in the world. When I was around five years old, she had moved into town and opened a little new-age boutique; it had instantly become my favorite place to be. My adoration of her had been mutual and she was the one person who gave me enough female affection to help me cope with the severe emotional neglect inflicted by my mother.

She had been so happy to see me and I had been astonished when she said I was just how I had been destined to be. She had taken me into her little shop to explain why she said that and what she had told me had floored me. When she was done talking, she said I needed to hurry home to the Cullens and following her directive I had turned north, headed home.

When I drew near, I had instantly known that he was there; Kieran – my biological father and partner to the devil who had changed me. When I had reached my new family I had almost been crippled by what I had seen. All of the family but Emmett and Jasper were lying on the ground in various states of hurt and I had to reign my rage and fear for them to stay focused. I knew I had to be deliberate and disciplined to defeat the freakishly strong monster who was intently focused on killing the whole Cullen family.

It had been easier that I had thought it would be. Though he was insanely strong and we had fought viciously, I had won the battle. With skill and instinct I had no idea I possessed, I had first _'bound him'_ and then had taken his head as easily as I had done to his mentor; my killer. And like Ghalib, the ancient who had changed me into a vampire, he had disintegrated in a weird golden, sparking light. It had wrapped around me and made me unbearably hot inside but Carlisle had grabbed me from behind and tried to pull me away. I had felt the heat move through me and transfer to him.

Discovering how grievously Esme had been wounded had been like a physical blow. I had been frantic until Carlisle had healed her with the weird golden light coming from his hand. He had been just as stunned as I had been and then he had done it again, healing ugly painful wounds on both Bella and Rosalie. Although the visible wounds on Esme had been healed she had been extremely drained and weak and we knew there was something really wrong. Without knowing how, I knew that the only thing that would make her better was human blood. It was the rightful food of vampires and though animal blood kept us alive and healthy, it did not provide the same strength that human blood gave.

I had gone to a blood drive and taken over a gallon of fresh warm blood for her. She had consumed it all and had instantly looked and felt better. When I looked at her sitting against the headboard of her bed with her golden eyes unclouded and the sickly gray look gone from her face, I had let go of any fear and inhibitions I had about accepting the Cullen's as my own family now.

I would always love my dad Razul and my brothers Kalib and Saul. I might occasionally miss my mother Iris and sister Lily, but I couldn't ever go back to my old life. I needed parents and I wanted a family. Most of all I wanted Esme as a mother and she wanted to _be_ my mother. Knowing Carlisle was my uncle was a huge plus also and I thought he would make a pretty great dad. I was right of course.

I had the best vacation ever when they had taken me to Isle Esme. The rest of the family had joined us five days later and the following weeks had been the best ever. Now we were back in real life, having moved from Forks Washington to Deacon Idaho and to my horror of horrors I had to start school tomorrow. It was so unfair!

"Honey?" Esme's voice was sweet as it pulled me from my reverie. I turned my head and looked at her where she was standing in the doorway of my room with a soft smile. When I gave her an answering smile she crossed to my bed and sat beside me.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she laid a hand on my back. I nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking." I wiggled a little to lay flat on my stomach. "Can you rub my back?" Esme gave me a funny little look but smiled and began to rub my back. Though I didn't have sore muscles or anything, it felt nice and I closed my eyes.

"I don't want to go to school," I confessed in a small voice and she sighed.

"It is necessary to maintain our cover for you all to attend school. If you feel like it's too soon because of thirst control we can reevaluate the situation." I shook my head and sighed myself.

"No, it's fine. I hate school but it's not about thirst. I'm not smart," I admitted and then opened my eyes as I felt Esme shift a little and saw her smiling at my forlorn face.

"I think you'll find things are easier now. Your brain has a lot more power to retain information and you probably won't have any problems in school." I scowled and she chuckled at my expression. I didn't think she understood the level of academic lack I suffer with but I didn't say anything more.

"Alice will probably want to go over what you're planning on wearing for your first day of school," she said with just a touch of humor in her voice. That made me grin and I felt better. It was nice to have family members with predictable quirks. I was going to hate the academic side of school but at the same time I was suddenly excited as I thought of all the things I had loved about school before. The social aspect of things, art class and sports, having friends.

I turned over and sat up. "Do you think people will like me here?" I asked, a little insecure that I wouldn't be able to make friends now that I was different. "Will they just be all afraid or do you think I'll make friends." Esme seemed truly surprised at my question.

"Well, we naturally attract humans but there is also an instinctive fear in them of us." She paused for just a split second and then smiled lovingly. "Of course people will like you though, you're perfect." I rolled my eyes but felt better at her subjective praise. "If you do make friends, you will have to be very careful to keep our secret." She warned softly and I grinned.

"Of course I will." I threw my arms around her and hugged her without crushing her. "I can come home and be with you if it's too hard right?"

She hugged me back. "Of course baby." I smiled and let her squeeze me tight. I liked being hugged by her. It always made me feel happy and loved. She pulled back and looked at me with a little sad face.

"I'm going to miss you while you're at school."

I laughed. "It will only be for a few hours and I'll hate being there more than you'll hate me being gone." And I would. I didn't have a single doubt that I was going to loathe starting school as a freshman again. I was supposed to be a junior this year and now I was going to have to redo almost two whole grades to just keep up a pretense of normality. I sighed.

This was just freaking fantastic.


	17. 1st Day of School

**Well, I've been so busy with real life, that I have been forced to neglect my beloved stories. Here's another chapter and honestly... ehhhh. Well, let's just say the next part of this story has thrilled me much more than this chapter and the last one have. Anyhoo... One more chapter after this and Leila meets some of the wolves! :D**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Leila POV<em>**

Today was the first day of school. It felt weird to me that I was starting ninth grade again.

_A freshman_, I thought in disgust.

I looked at myself in the mirror one last time and then opened the door to go down and see the family. I still missed my first family, but I had been lucky in finding the Cullen's. Even though I knew I was going to hate school, I also knew I would be okay with them. I felt included by all of them. They loved me. I could _feel_ it, especially from Esme.

Her love was a palpable entity. It wrapped me in a cloud when I was with her. She was everything I had ever dreamed of in a mother. I felt almost guilty thinking that, because in a way I knew my mother had loved me. Now I understood the layer of guilt that had always muted it. I had forgiven her the hurts I had carried with me (well I was trying), but somehow with Esme, it was like I belonged; like I had found my birth mother after years of searching.

Standing in the hallway were Alice, Esme and Renesmee who grinned at me with ill-repressed excitement. Alice smiled approvingly.

"It's so nice to have someone who both appreciates and knows how to use a good closet." She glanced teasingly at Bella who was coming up the stairs just then. "You look very nice, Leila." She finished.

Esme reached forward and hugged me. "You look beautiful honey. Now, if you're not sure this morning about going to school you can stay home with me. If you want to go and you feel like you need to come home at any point, you call me okay?" She produced a cell phone from her pocket.

"Rosalie picked it up. I wanted to make sure it was cool and age appropriate for you." She smiled and pressed it into my hand. "I programmed all our numbers into it. I'm speed dial one and Carlisle is two. The rest are under their names. I thought you would like to put them in the order you would prefer."

I smiled back uncomfortably. I didn't like taking monetary items from anyone, yet they seemed insistent, even delighted to foist ever more presents upon me. I knew she was watching for a response. "Um, thanks. I'll call if I need you."

Apparently that was a perfect answer because she did a little mom-squeal and hugged me again.

"Okay, you can ride with whoever you want to school. Just remember to be careful about breathing too much in closed spaces and if anything overwhelms you, go outside for a moment."

She turned on Alice and opened her mouth again to heap cautions and instructions but Alice circumvented her by laughing gently and putting a hand over hers.

"She'll be fine, Esme. And I'll be watching to make sure." I breathed out a relieved sigh. I knew this would be really hard but at the same time I wasn't that apprehensive about it because, as deliciously mouth watering as I knew my class mates would be, I also knew there was no way in hell I could act upon it. I knew, I had tried several times to quench the thirst the way I wanted and I was not able to. It had pissed me off that I could not force my jaws to close over the throbbing pulse in any of my would-be victims. No matter how hard I had tried or my body screamed for it I was not physically able to feed on a human.

"Which is good," I told myself firmly.

_No it's not!_ A little devil in me shrieked. _It's against nature! It's your_ right! I was feeling increasingly upset as this warred in me. Even though the core of me that retained my human likeness rejoiced and encouraged me that it was a blessing, another part of me, one that seemed louder, said to _try one more time! _Jasper came out from his room and smiled that slightly creepy, very calming smile.

"Leila. Would you like to ride with Alice and me?" I felt him soothe me. And for once I was grateful. I allowed it to freely flood me. I smiled at him, thanks in the gesture.

"Sure, if you guys don't mind." Alice wrapped an arm snugly around my shoulders and guided me down the stairs.

"Of course we don't mind," she trilled with a lighthearted, infectious laugh. "Come on baby sister. We'll take my Porsche."

I widened my eyes. "Um, don't you think that taking a bright yellow Porsche to school will make every one stare and be really jealous?"

She laughed again. "What's the point in having a Porsche if not for those reactions?"

I stopped dead and looked at her with uncertainty. "Maybe I should ride with whoever is taking the least flashy car. I don't want every one to stare at me. I'm not even comfortable with how I look yet. And I definitely don't want any one to talk about me showing up to school in a Porsche."

Rosalie stood up from the couch where she and Emmett were lounging. "What kind of car would you rather show up to school in?" Her question was more dry and sarcastic than serious. I thought for a moment and then shrugged. Nobody else had a really plain car I suppose. But if I really thought about it seriously, a Cadillac ATS was what I would want. When I got my license that was the car I wanted someday.

Alice sighed patiently. "Alright. No Porsche." She tugged my hand towards the garage. "We should be going soon. You'll want a minute to acquaint yourself with the lay out of the school."

Renesmee stuck out her bottom lip mutinously. "I want her to go with me!" It was a purely childish wail, no hint in it of the little mature mini adult she normally projected. Rosalie had her swept up in a flash.

"But I want you to come with me!" It was a perfect parody of Renesmee. She giggled. Emmett grinned and waggled his eyebrows playfully at her. "Yeah, if you ride with us you can pick out what ever music you want!"

Bella glared at him. "Don't you tell her that! You know that is not the rule!"

I had learned just recently of the baby's penchant for off color rap music that Uncle Emmett seemed to gleefully feed. While it was hilarious (yet simultaneously horrifying) to hear machine gun rap be done perfectly by such an angelic child, I agreed with her mother. Boundless knowledge and learning capabilities aside; violent, profanity laced music was not the most prudent thing to give her for entertainment.

Her brow puckered and her little rosebud mouth tightened in defiance and disappointment. Emmett took her from Rose and threw her gently up in the air. "Don't worry doll face. Uncle Em got you a new CD that is perfectly clean. Mommy can't say no to it either, cause it matched all her criteria."

_Who the hell said words like criteria to an almost two year old_, I thought inanely. The weirder thing was that she both understood and had a farther-reaching vocabulary than Emmett. With the little princess mollified and eager to go with Emmett and Rosalie, Alice once again pulled me toward the garage. It was a big four door structure that could fit cars two deep in each bay.

Every slot was filled with a vehicle of one kind or another. Edward and Bella, along with Emmett, Rose and Renesmee followed us. Jasper was already there in the garage. Esme ventured out also, hovering like a mother hen. Jasper took a set of keys from a silver key box mounted on the wall and held them up. Alice nodded and he gave her a secret, intimate smile. It amazed me frequently that after so many years, they, Carlisle and Esme and Emmett and Rosalie could still have such a glowing, newlywed look to them. It seemed like they were basking in the glow of a new-found love. Not celebrating fiftieth wedding anniversaries or in some cases nearing the centennial.

Jasper moved to a navy blue sedan that was obviously a high end, yet much more toned down transport than the shining yellow Porsche that was Alice's thrill ride. I followed Alice obediently to it and climbed in. The others were climbing into Rosalie's red BMW. I heard Renesmee as she grumbled about it _being stupid that she had to sit in a baby seat_. That and I quote, _"the car should be more afraid of me if we crashed._" Crashed was said in a sneering tone that implied that she thought it preposterous to even entertain the possibility that Rosalie would ever wreck. I smiled at her. She didn't see, she was too busy complaining, but she was just too funny.

Jasper backed out of the garage at a heart pounding speed. I jolted for a moment; I wasn't quite used to the speed at which the entire Cullen family drove; yet their accuracy was reassuring. Alice turned in her seat as we drove, smiling as she prattled on about shopping next weekend. We had missed our planned trip when we moved because of a random vision she had and she was frothing at the mouth with anxiety over doing a major shopping trip. She wanted to take me to New York City as it was supposed to be overcast and rainy by her predictions for four solid days. She was more reliable than any weatherman I mused. As we neared the school I felt a tickle of anxiety at the base of my neck.

_Could I do this? Would I be able to resist trying to feed on someone?_ I knew I didn't have the capability so it was futile to even try. But the urge, it drove through me with pounding force when I smelled humans. Alice took my hands as Jasper pulled smoothly into a parking space. "Leila. You will do fine. I haven't seen even one thing that is remotely violent from you. You can do this. And if you need me or Jasper we will be right there for you."

That reminded me. I pulled out the cell phone Esme had given me. I checked it. On vibrate, fully charged and it even had a screen saver – a tiny image of the whole family. Scrolling across the screen in a funky font were the words.

_WE LOVE YOU HONEY._

It was ridiculously sentimental yet strangely comforting. Like everyone had faith in me and was there to support me. I quickly put Jasper as my speed dial three and Alice as four. I looked up and smiled tentatively at Alice. Jasper was now turned slightly looking at me intently, gauging my mood. "Okay. I can do this," I said, reassuring them yet pepping myself at the same time.

She smiled brilliantly. "Of course you can." She opened her car door and got slowly out. It was weird every time we were in public and I saw them move so slowly, in human timing. It felt even weirder to modulate my pace, like I was doing everything in slow motion. I practiced at home only when I was reminded and to think about keeping myself in check at all times felt irritatingly difficult. Bella had reassured me that you got used to it after a bit of time and it became easier. She understood the wonder and disconcerting feeling I was experience as she was the most recent addition to the family before me.

Jasper too, climbed lazily out of the driver's seat and closed the door with more gentleness than usual. I sat there for a moment longer, rubbing my palms over my thighs. I might be a vampire now and invincible and beautiful and alluring to humans, but face it. It was the first day of school in a _new_ school and I was The New Kid.

Alice opened my door and leaned in. "Come on," she stretched a hand out. "Let's go. It will be worse if you are late. Then everyone will _really_ be staring. I know – I saw it."

Jasper circled the car to stand beside her. I felt my eyes widen as her words sunk in and I launched myself off the seat towards the door. He stopped me with a firm hand.

"Slowly, slowly," he chided in a peaceful even tone. I climbed out slow-mo and stood next to them, straightening my clothes as I adjusted my bag onto my shoulder. Rosalie pulled in next to us and Emmett hopped out first. He put a friendly arm around my shoulders.

"Come on mighty mouse. Don't be afraid of any of the kids. Just remember, if any one stares or is mean, think about how much stronger you are and what you could do to them." Rosalie let out an outraged gasp and Edward peeled Emmett's arm off me.

"That is not the best advice for Leila today, Emmett," he said reprovingly with a touch of brotherly affection. Edward smiled at me with a long-suffering sigh. I had originally formed the opinion of Emmett that he was basically a smarter than average jock type and most of what he said was kind of clueless but many times well meaning. While he was to an extent, he was much smarter than I had originally given him credit for. But sometimes he said stupid stuff and he wasn't all that keen to moods and tension, etc.

Edward nodded in agreement at my thought pattern. "Just remember, we're all going to be here, so if you need anything call one of us."

I nodded affirmatively for about the thousandth time. "Got it."

We walked together towards the entrance and I felt dozens of pairs of eyes on us. Now that my focus was not completely on the family, I started hearing the whispers.

"_They're back!" _A girl near us whispered furiously to her friends.

"_And there are more of them." _This was from one of the girls in her little circle.

Another voice from the opposite direction spoke. _"Oh my God! Look at the tall blonde girl!"_

"_She looks like a bitch_," a nasty voice interjected.

I scowled and looked in her direction. I was not a bitch!_ I ought to knock her teeth in and show her what a real bitch could do!_

"No, you ought not to," was Edward's low interjection.

A new conversation came from a group of guys who were slightly to the left of our path.

"_Holy shit! Check out that new chick. I wonder if I could get me some of that."_

"_I would totally do her." _Another one agreed with him.

I gasped in outrage. Emmett clenched his hands into fists and scowled blackly at them.

Edward sighed. "Just ignore them all. There is nothing you can do about it anyway."


	18. 1st Day of School Still

**_LEILA POV_**

The school was one and a half times the size of Forks High School, I had been told.

Jasper and Alice, Rosalie and Emmett had come the year before for one semester. The student body already knew of Edward and Bella, but I was the unknown. It was a little nerve wracking. Yet being here in the midst of them I felt easier than if I had been alone.

_Safety in numbers,_ I thought wryly.

Alice turned into the office, my hand held securely in hers, Edward and Bella following. Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie stood in the hall casually. There was a very grouchy looking elderly woman behind the counter. She looked up and surveyed us, her mouth slightly agape.

"May I help you?" She spoke after a minute, seeming to visibly pull herself together.

Alice smiled sweetly at her, elfin features taking on an irresistible light.

"Hi, Mrs. Dieter. I'm Alice Cullen. I started last year, remember me?" She was charming and cute and Mrs. Dieter blossomed under her manipulation.

"Oh, yes, yes. Alice Cullen. How are you, dear?" Alice dimpled and looked briefly at me.

"This is my little sister Leila. I believe my parents already signed her up and arranged everything for her. I just brought her in to meet you and get her schedules."

Mrs. Dieter stood and leaned closer to study me for a minute. "You look like your daddy," she announced afterward. "You sure are a beauty though Miss Leila." She smiled and her crease-lined face took on a different aura than her previous dour expression.

She reached into a drawer and pulled out a little bundle of papers. She extended them across the old and scarred secretary station. "This is all your schedules and any announcements and school pamphlets."

I smiled hesitantly at her. "Thank you, ma'am."

She beamed. "So polite! You come see me if you need anything. And if you don't like Mrs. Garson, you let me know and I'll juggle your classes so you can transfer from the old biddy." The last was said with some vehemence, though her grandmotherly smile belied her words.

I nodded again, smiling politely but didn't verbally respond. Alice clapped her hands in front of her once.

"Okay! Thank you Mrs. Dieter. I'll show Leila to her first class now." She waved goodbye, a graceful motion of her wrist.

Edward and Bella stepped up to the counter as we exited. I wondered how Renesmee had done going to school.

_It was weird;_ I thought not for the first time, _that such a little girl could be so smart._

I wondered how irritated she would get before the end of the day by the simple banality of preschool. Oh well. Everyone said it would benefit her to learn how to adapt to _normal_ life. Plus she was excited to go; she just was going to need extra brain stimuli afterward. Esme would pick her up at eleven-fifteen and they would spend the afternoon together. It was a nice arrangement, one that infinitely pleased Esme.

Although Bella said it would be hard, she was going to try it for one semester. Cause let's face it; Renesmee wasn't going to last more than a semester in each grade, seeing as she already knew material up into high school. The family had already worked it out. The teachers would see that she was exceptionally bright, so when Esme pulled her out, saying she was going to home school her in more advanced material, nobody would blink an eye. And her explanation of wanting Renesmee to have social integration for a time would be met with nothing but admiration over how good of a 'mother' she was.

I was thinking as Alice led me down the main hall. Her voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Your locker is 407. Right down this hall." She turned sharply down another corridor, led me almost to the end and stopped in front of the last locker on the left.

The combination was on 000. Good. I could set it to my old code. She opened it and smiled satisfactorily. It was clean as a whistle, new if I wasn't mistaken.

"Okay. You have math first period. English, biology, creative writing…" Alice named off the list of classes without looking at my paper.

"Remember, keep your phone on you and don't hesitate to go outside if you even start feeling you need to, okay?"

I nodded. I put my things into my locker, set the combination and shut it. My bag was lighter, even though it hadn't really been heavy before.

_It wasn't going to be that bad._ I told myself. I was especially looking forward to sixth period. Deacon, Idaho was the hometown of famous chef Daria Devons. Upon becoming rich and famous, she had paid for a culinary annex to be built onto the school, stocked it consistently with the ingredients needed to teach and visited once or twice each semester to give a guest class. She also sent visiting chefs during the year to give surprise lessons. I had _loved_ her show on Food Network for years and was super excited I would be in the class.

We had reached the door to my first class and Alice hugged me encouragingly. "Good luck."

I stepped tentatively into the room and looked around. It took less than a second for me to grasp the lay out of the room and the bodies occupying its space. Students were milling around, talking, greeting each other and finding seats with friends. Suddenly, as if by an unspoken signal all movement ceased and every head turned to stare at me.

I stepped further into the room and every pair of eyes followed me closely. Almost all of the seats were claimed by either person or belongings, and I judged the empty ones to better choose my seatmate. Most of the empty seats were at tables with a boy. They were either jock strap douchy looking guys or just boys staring rudely and incessantly at me. There was one creepy looking guy with clammy skin that I swear if he thought I wouldn't notice, would try to do something lewd under the table.

There was a red headed girl seated in the fifth row back on the right hand side. She glanced quickly at me through glasses and then hunched over as if trying to shrink into herself. She was swathed in an oversized cotton sweater and I could tell she was a little overweight.

I walked up to the desk. "Um, is this seat taken?" She looked up quickly and her eyes grew huge and rounded. I didn't get a response from her so I tried again.

"Is this somebody's seat?" I kept my voice even and purposefully persuasive.

She shook her head vigorously. "Uh, no. I… nobody will sit with me. I uh, I can move if you want the table." She spoke in a barely audible voice that was filled with fear and self-consciousness. She began to gather her books and slide out of the far side of the table. She was hunched in on her self to an almost painful degree.

"Oh, please, stay here." My voice was light but I still cringed inwardly at the melodic ring to it, though I kept the volume low. I sat in the open chair. I set my bag on the floor between us and smiled tentatively. I had a feeling that full-blown friendliness would send her screaming.

"If you don't mind," I amended. "It would be nice to sit together. Plus, I would choose you over any of them every time." I made a tiny sweeping gesture around the room.

She looked flabbergasted at me as if she thought I was making fun of her. I smiled a tiny smile again and introduced myself.

"I am Leila Cullen. I just moved here so I don't really know anybody." I was doing pretty good at being normally human, I thought. I remembered a lot more than the others did about my former life. The family all had dim or no memories of their prior lives. My memories segwayed into my new life, tinged only with a dreamlike quality and the sadness at the loss of my family and closest friends.

She continued to stare at me as if fearing I would strike verbally at any moment. I raised my eyebrows in a querying look and she seemed to understand I was curious as to who she was. Her cheeks bloomed a dark rose and I felt the heat of the blood and smelled its delicious bouquet. But strangely instead of making me want to leap upon her and feed voraciously, I was just curious. Something about her made me want to know her. Maybe we would be friends.

For some inexplicable reason I saw Jasper's face frown disapprovingly. I shook it off just as quickly as it came.

"I… I," she stopped with a flustered look. "My name is Sheyla Boone." She spoke softly as if any attention garnered from the sound of her voice would bring punishment. I sensed instinctively that pushy friendship would be neither effective nor welcomed so I smiled back a tiny bit more enthusiastic this time.

"Nice to meet you Sheyla. Would you mind if we're seat mates?"

She shook her head almost wonderingly and then nodded, "yeah, if you want." Her whisper was disbelieving.

I got out my math book, a pencil and graph notebook. I set them neatly on the desktop and folded my hands on top of the textbook. My posture belied my thoughts. I was thinking wrathful things against the problems within the text book. I fucking HATE math!

For the first time my attention was not occupied with studying others or consumed with nerves over my first day and I took a deep breath… and instantly regretted it. My lungs filled with fire as the delicious scent of human blood pulsed strongly around me. A burning so intense engulfed my throat and I began to see everything in the room through a red haze.

_NO!_ I commanded myself. I locked down my lungs and the relief was instantaneous. My body instinctively screamed for me to breathe but I ignored it.

_Not until I could control myself. _

It was surprisingly quick. My senses calmed down and rational thinking took over. I still didn't breathe although I had remembered Jasper's instruction to move my shoulders slightly when I held my breath to give the illusion of breathing.

A portly man in an ill fitting tweed jacket puffed his way into the room, juggling a briefcase, coffee and an odd looking plastic case. It was green with slits cut in the side. He turned slightly to set down his coffee and the case and I saw the silver grate. A tiny furry face peered out of it. He set the briefcase next to the desk and straightened his tie and jacket – ineffectually – before turning to the class. He had a florid harassed face, but he smiled jovially to all of us.

"Good morning class. Am I late?" He checked the watch on his pudgy wrist and grinned happily.

"Twenty-seven seconds 'til!" He crowed this tidbit as if it was a major achievement. He huffed a little more as he circled his desk to sit in the worn out leather chair, which creaked precariously under his weight.

"This is a first! I've never been early on the first day of school!" He huffed in short labored pants, which spoke of a mad shuffle to be those twenty seven seconds early. The bell rang and seven more students hustled into the classroom. There was miniscule pandemonium as every one tried to find a satisfactory seat. One guy quietly bullied a geeky kid out of his seat, while a prissy looking girl snarled in outrage over having to sit in the last seat available – which just happened to be with the creepy dude. Breathing in one last deep breath, the teacher rocked back in his chair and used the forward momentum to lever himself out of; it into a standing position.

"Okay class. I am Gilbert Pearly. I will be your ninth grade math instructor for this year." He laid a hand on the little green animal carrier.

"This is my assistant, Sergeant Doobey." He looked in through the grate at Sergeant Doobey, who wiggled excitedly and let out a whine. I had no trouble seeing every detail of every thing, so I was able to see it was a puppy – very young – with exceptionally fuzzy features.

Mr. Pearly smiled at the little dog before turning back to address us again. "If you have any questions at _any_ time please feel more than free to raise your hand."

He smiled, looking like the Uncle from the All of A Kind Family books. His face was shiny and he rocked back and forth on the balls of his warped leather shoes.

"I am here to teach, but to also meet your needs as my students. I am not going to ask every one to introduce themselves; you can all introduce yourselves to each other later if you wish."

He lifted a clipboard from his desk. "I will call your name and just answer 'here' so I may familiarize myself with you all."

"Narla Frossen." His brow puckered as he read. He looked up a perplexed expression in his eyes. "Is that right?" He scratched his thinning hair. "They must have made a typo."

The prissy girl glared haughtily at him. "It's a Scandinavian name," she said scathingly. "I go by Janine because of morons like you." _Idiot_, she said under her breath. _Bitch_, I thought, but then again what parents were mean enough to name their child Narla Janine?

"Oh. Well, Janine Frossen – Here." He said it himself. I didn't blame him. _Who would willingly subject themselves to such a nasty voice?_

"Daniel Vera Cruz."

"Here."

"Aaron Potterfield."

"Here."

"Melissa Norris."

"Here."

The list went on, every name receiving an acknowledgment.

"Emma Wagnor, Corona Marcus, Hennessy Marcus," _twins and their parents must've really loved to drink. _"Brianna West, Christopher Langley, Damarius Morely, Aiden Snyder, Samantha Corbin, Sheyla Boone, Treshawn Jones, Kelly Weitz, Tanner Harbison, Blake Anderson, John Farmer," _really? I __mean how mean are his parents?_ "Heather Smith, Brandon Williams, Nathan Sanders, Lily Burton, Amabelle Norton and Leila Cullen."

"Here," my voice was clear and perfect. He looked in surprise at me but didn't say anything. I felt twenty-three pairs of eyes on me. I ignored them and focused on not breathing.

The lesson was tedious, as I didn't understand the lesson or know a single answer. Added to my frustration was the uncomfortable feeling of not breathing. Finally the bell rang and I gathered up my stuff anxious to leave. I wanted to step outside and get an undiluted breath. I was blocked from an immediate exit by bodies standing in the aisle; apparently they couldn't wait to get out of the room either. I felt Sheyla rise to her feet less than gracefully behind me. I didn't want to be rude to her so I turned back around.

"It was nice meeting you. I'll see you tomorrow?" I phrased it as a question rather than a statement, which left her the avenue to rebut me.

She gaped at me. "You want to sit with me again? On purpose?" Again her voice was nearly inaudible.

I smiled genuinely amused at her stupefaction. I nodded. "Yes. Do you mind?"

She shook her head quickly. "No not at all." She smiled timidly as she picked up her bag. "See you tomorrow."

The path had cleared and I turned to go. Alice was waiting outside the door with Jasper. I didn't even stop to look at them. There was an outside door ten feet from the math room and I bee-lined for it hoping that no alarms sounded when I opened the door. Sweet air filled my lungs as I burst through the door inhaling deeply. The scent of humans barely tinged the air. I breathed in deep over and over as if cleansing my body of gaseous fumes. Alice and Jasper had instantly followed me out and now she put her hand on my back. Jasper stood very near, a pained and worried look clouding his face.

"Leila." Alice spoke hesitantly as if she didn't want to startle me. "Are you okay?"

I looked up at her and smiled. "I made it!"

She smiled back abstractly and nodded. "That's good. What happened just now?" She persisted gently.

I shrugged a little embarrassed now that I had seemed so dramatic to them. "Nothing really. I wasn't paying attention at first to the smell. I was focused on checking people out and stuff."

"When I sat in my seat and was just waiting I breathed in really deep without thinking and the smell was overwhelming." I grimaced.

"I just held my breath the whole time. It would have been fine, but there was a big traffic jam coming out of the classroom and I wanted to be nice to my desk mate, she's really shy, so I said a few things to her. It used up all my air and I couldn't handle the feeling anymore."

I shrugged again. "It was more mental though, wanting to get outside and breathe. I'm fine now."

I smiled wide as if to prove that I was indeed okay. Jasper looked even more worried but Alice smiled back, face smoothing as she realized I was indeed fine.

She turned to Jasper. "She really is fine, Jazz. The rest of her day will be good."

He looked at her for a long moment and then he nodded. Turning to me he spoke.

"We'll check up on you after every class. Tell us if you need a break, okay? Don't worry, it takes a long time to be able to handle all this." He smiled faintly as if seeing some inside joke. I nodded back at him having no words to say.

"Okay. You ready for your next class?" Alice rubbed my back in little circles and steered me back in the door. _As long as it wasn't math, I was happy._


	19. 1st Day Finish x Who are you!

**Oh my goodness! I finally got moved and settled in as well as possible. Unfortunately Real Life is not so good right now but I have tried to spend a little time whenever possible on my Fan Fictions. I have found that severe depression doesn't do much for the creative process except to block it. When this happens, I don't work on my stories because I don't want them to be forced. If it takes a little time between updates, I apologize and hope you all keep following. I will NEVER abandon my beloved stories.**  
><strong>A little of the hold up has been because I have been syncing this story and Emily's Little Wolf. They are about to intersect in a few chapters in a big way. I really Love my OC's Leila &amp; Johannah. I hope you like their story as much as I do. If you would like to know more of Johannah's back story... read Emily's Little Wolf. (A bit of shameless advertising :D) It's not absolutely vital, but recommended.<strong>

**And so with that...**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Leila POV <span>**

I made it successfully through the next three periods and Alice beamed wider and Jasper seemed to relax more each time they checked on me.

After fourth period creative writing, I dragged slowly towards the door. It was lunchtime and I was going to have to sit with the others while Jasper evened my moods, Edward read my mind and Alice smiled cheerfully as long as her visions remained rosy.

As I waited for the crush of students leaving the classroom, a perky brunette stopped next to me. She had a mischievous smile and twinkling eyes. Her gaze darted to me repeatedly as if she wanted to talk to me.

"Hi." I smiled as I spoke and her eyes got big. "I'm Leila Cullen."

She just stared at me wordlessly. I stared back at her, slightly amused at the stunned look on her face.

"Uh, oh sorry," she muttered as she realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet. It wasn't necessary. I remembered her from first period. But it was part of acting like a normal human to keep such facts to one's self.

"I'm Emma Wagnor, I saw you earlier in math." She grinned at me cheerfully. "You're new in town right? I mean everyone's heard about your family. My sister talked about your brothers and sisters earlier this year nonstop. She said that you just moved in with them. Are you all adopted?"

I looked at her in surprise. Emmett had told me that everyone avoided us at all cost, they were instinctively afraid of our kind. This girl seemed to have no qualms what so ever.

"Yeah; we're adopted." I didn't say any more. She looked back at me, eyes shining her mouth moving as she decided if she should ask me more.

"I just asked because I saw your dad at the hospital one time and you look just like him. So I wondered if you were adopted."

I was slightly stunned. She was a perceptive little thing. I smiled dryly. I might as well tell her enough to satisfy her curiosity.

"He's my uncle. My dad died recently," which _was_ true. No need to for anyone to know that I had killed him. "So, Carlisle and Esme adopted me since my mom wasn't ever in the picture."

We had slowly moved forward with the rest of our classmates who each stopped to take a paper from Ms. Ellis.

_Humans were so slow!_ I thought irritably.

"I can't imagine my mom never being around." Emma stopped in turn and took two papers, handing one to me. "I mean I get it more when dads aren't in the picture but a mom?" She shook her head as if were a great tragedy.

We stepped through the door and I saw Alice waiting with Jasper who was leaning casually against the far wall. Emma stopped walking and stared at them.

"Oh wow!" She stayed rooted to the spot as Alice danced across the hall and took my hand.

"How was your class?" She asked with a luminous smile.

Emma looked at me with dazed eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow." And she darted down the hall.

Alice looked at me with curious eyes. "I see you made a little friend. What's her name?"

"We're not really friends. She just introduced herself to me and I was polite to her."

"Yeah, yeah; what's her name?" Alice started to tow me down the hall, Jasper following us looking slightly pained.

"Emma Wagnor. She apparently knows a lot of gossip about the family."

"Hmm." Was the only response from Alice. We left the building by a side exit and I breathed in gratefully. The fresh air was a very welcome change from the burning breaths of the classroom.

Edward and Bella were walking back from the far end of the parking lot holding hands. Esme had probably stopped by for Renesmee to see them. They reached us in slow time. Even with all the practice I had done at home, I still felt itchy having to move so slowly and wait for things all the time. Apparently patience was not a strong suit for me now.

"Hey how is your day so far?" Bella asked with a friendly smile. I rolled my eyes.

"Ask Edward. He knows as much as me." I had consciously left him full access to my thoughts as a stronger deterrent to losing my cool and snacking mid-school. Well, full access to everything except my math dilemma.

"She did well though she was bored with some of the material." He reported sardonically to Bella.

It was more like I did okay and just put out a bored air for his benefit. All of them had told me to expect to be bored as our minds were so much stronger and we had already done this. There had been predictions that since I remembered my human life so clearly, I would ace everything. They didn't know what they were talking about. Did I mention I SUCK at math and academics? I just didn't want them all sympathetic and helpful.

The five of us walked towards the cafeteria. Emmett and Rosalie met us a few yards from the entrance. I heard the cacophony of sound from the cafeteria and steeled myself for the whispers and speculation that would erupt when we walked in. It wasn't because I felt insecure about these people liking me, it was more that I was afraid that if they said too much that pissed me off, I wouldn't be able to resist pounding a couple of them.

Edward smiled. "I think you can resist. If you need to, wait until we get home and take it out on Emmett."

Emmett looked at him in mock outrage. "Dude! Why would you encourage her to take her anger out on me? I'm fragile! You know I _never_ fight." He kept his face perfectly serious.

It was perfect for the moment. I burst out laughing and everyone joined in. We walked into the cafeteria, two by two, Alice hooked her arm through mine and Jasper took up the rear position. Momentary silence greeted us and then the room fairly exploded with whispers. Of course humans wouldn't have understood the fierce whispering, but we heard every word. I took Edward's advice and ignored it.

We all sat at one round table, trays of food for show, which we pushed around and pretended to share. I had always hated school lunches and had brought my own since I turned eight. Now the slop looked and smelled even more revolting. I couldn't believe any creature could stomach it.

I watched the room surreptitiously to see who came and went and to familiarize myself with people. I looked for Sheyla the whole time we were there but she never showed up. I didn't find it all that strange. Some students at my old school ate lunch other places, or went off campus to eat.

I was aware of everyone keeping tabs on me and I smiled sarcastically at their seriousness.

"Do you guys really think that we're blending in with all of you looking more like teachers than students. I mean, good god. Lighten up. We're supposed to be young!"

Emmett grinned. "These serious savant types don't know how to take life chill."

Alice rolled her eyes and lightly smacked his arm. "Oh please. We're not savants. You're just jealous that you don't have a gift."

He guffawed quietly and nodded sarcastically. "Oh yeah, like I'd rather see what _might_ happen than be the strongest dude alive."

Bella pursed her lips and considered him. "You know, you might not be the strongest dude alive. I would say Felix is pretty up there."

I couldn't tell for a moment if she was joking or if she was really serious. Emmett narrowed his eyes and scowled at her.

"Take that back."

Her face took on a look of pained innocence and she shook her head. "I can't take back the truth now can I?"

His eyes burned and his nostrils flared. "I could take down Felix any time any place. Name the date and it's done." He was just a tiny bit pissed now.

Bella laughed, a beautiful tinkling sound. "Em, I'm just messing with you. I don't doubt your Herculean strength, big brother."

He eased back into his chair grinning, not the least bit chagrined at being taken in for a moment by her. "That's what I thought."

* * *

><p>I was totally loving my cooking class at school and the homework from it was just as enjoyable. I had been at school for the last five weeks and things were going pretty good. I had a dreadful feeling that my lack of skill in the math department was going to cause problems soon, but I wasn't going to worry about it. Right now, I was just enjoying my artistic classes and having some new friends.<p>

Today's homework was to make an Italian dish for your family, photograph your presentation plate and have them rate it on a little card. I had made lasagna with meat sauce and I thought it had turned out great. I knew I'd have to pick who rated my food as Emmett and probably Jasper, would purposefully write outrageous things. Needing a few last items for garnish I thought I'd let the casserole set up while I ran down to the store. I turned off the oven and set the pan of bubbling lasagna on the stove, putting the oven mitts on the counter next to it. I kept my habits of cooking as they always had been when I was human. I didn't want to pull something out of the oven with my bare hands in front of my class because I was used to _'going vampire'_ at home.

"Mom, I'm going to Shad's to pick up a few things!"

Shad's was a little old fashioned grocery store that had been owned by the Shadrach family for over a hundred years. Harman and Lida Shadrach ran the store as they had for their fifty-four years of marriage. I loved them. They were these little old people who looked really sweet but in reality they were spry as monkeys, had sharp minds and even sharper tongues. I loved the store and it was only a half mile from our house so I was there often.

Esme appeared at the kitchen door. "Make sure that you wear a jacket, it's raining and if you go out with nothing but a shirt it will bring a lot of unwanted attention." I smiled at her, "Of course." I pulled on a little waterproof swing coat Alice had bought in Seattle and went out the front door.

"Do you have your phone?" Esme called after me. In answer, I lifted it in the air as I walked down the street. Our new house was so much more exposed, but I liked the feeling of living in town rather than in the middle of the woods. There were a few draw backs I did hate, but over all I was enjoying Deacon, Idaho a lot more than I had expected to.

Thirty minutes later I stood still as a statue in the middle of the kitchen. I stared with my mouth literally hanging open. _The whole pan was gone!_ Like _every last_ _bit_ of the lasagna was gone. There were a few smudges of red sauce in the glass dish, but somebody had eaten it!

"Who ate my lasagna?" I finally screamed. There had been voices talking in other regions of the house but at my furious shriek everything went dead silent. There was not a whisper of movement or even the slightest hint of a breath taken. I was fuming. Now that I thought about it, no one here would have eaten it, which made it so much worse.

_Emmett probably did this, _I thought wrathfully. But it struck me odd how there seemed to be marks in the remaining sauce from a spatula or some other utensil and it just looked like it had been eaten. It was probably still him; he probably did that on purpose.

When there was no response, I screamed in anger. "Mom, somebody ate my homework!" There was the faintest thud behind the house and I flew to the window in time to see figures streak into the trees.

_Oh hell no!_

I took off out the back door chasing them into the sparse woods. I was too mad to care if anyone saw me although as fast as I was running even the sharpest of humans wouldn't have caught more than a blur of movement. Using the training Jasper had drilled into me, I focused on the smells around me_. There!_ I smelled my lasagna, but mixed into it was a horrible wet dog smell. Actually it was worse than just a dog, but I ignored it as I chased the culprit through the thickening woods. I raced after the swift footfalls, intent on catching whoever had stolen my hard work. _I was so going to kick his ass,_ I thought, convinced that it was Emmett.

On a flash of inspiration I took to the trees, leaping from branch to branch, quickly gaining on my quarry. _There!_ I saw him. It _was_ Emmett! I was so angry I had a momentary thought that I might just hurt him for real. I took a flying leap, landing in a tree not far from him as he slowed and looked behind. He flashed a grin when he didn't see me and gave a sharp whistle. I narrowed my eyes as he looped around and started back towards the house. I thought about tackling him and taking him down right then, but thought better of it.

I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of beating him up in a fit of anger. Oh no. I would bide my time and when he least expected it I would strike. I would have to think of something good and I had a feeling that I could probably get Alice to help me with revenge.

"Leila, honey," Esme's sweet tone carried through the woods a moment later and I heard her footfalls as she made her way towards me_. 'Sent mommy to save his ass,'_ I thought with a smirk. I dropped down in front of her. She smiled and reached out a hand to me.

"I know you're very angry but just come with me and I think you'll understand." I looked at her weirdly. That was not at all what I expected her to say. I pursed my lips but didn't resist as she led me back towards the house.

"How do you think I'll understand?" I asked her finally. She smiled that little mother smile she does when she thinks she knows best, which I admit she does know best pretty much every time.

"There is nothing to understand when someone takes your hard work and ruins it just because they think it's funny." We had entered a small clearing a quarter mile from the house and I was surprised that Jasper, Alice and Edward were standing in a line waiting for me.

"Seriously?" I asked. "I didn't do anything!"

Jasper gave me a little smile. "Oh we know you didn't… yet."

_What was that supposed to mean?_

"Uh uh," I said to him. "You don't get to side with Emmett! He ruined my homework!"

"Except it wasn't Emmett," Alice chimed in. _So much for counting on her to help me._ I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Are you saying that it was one of you then?" I asked. She shook her head with a smile.

"Of course not."

"It was me," a male voice said and my eyes snapped past Alice to the tall dark figure coming out of the trees. I narrowed my eyes as I felt my body tense. A firm hand landed on my arm.

"No," Jasper chided quietly.

"Who are you?" I hissed at the man standing a safe distance from me. Well, correction - boy. He was huge and tall and totally muscled but he looked like he was my age. I growled deep in my chest as every fiber of my being recoiled from his mere presence and poised to attack him. Jasper had a death grip on my arms and it felt like he would tear them off if I truly resisted him.

The dark boy was staring at me with a look of awe on his face. I scowled and suddenly lunged towards him. My force dragged Jasper with me for a few yards before he got a firmer hold on me and pulled me back. Emmett was suddenly in front of me with his hands on my shoulders.

"Get your hands off me you traitor!"

Unlike the rest of the family who was watching me carefully, he was grinning with good humor.

"I'm sorry okay. I didn't take your lasagna but I did help Seth escape your wrath."

"Seth?" He smiled and waved at me. Wow, he was super cute when he smiled. I still didn't like him though. Renesmee said she played with him sometimes but he didn't look like someone who would play with a little girl. I looked at him curiously now.

_Seth and Jacob._ Renesmee always talked about them. I sniffed the air and gagged at his scent. _Eww_, he was the wet dog smell!

"I thought Esme made the lasagna," he said with a bashful smile. "Sorry. But it was really, really good."

"I know it was good, I made it." I shook my head and rolled my eyes in frustration. "Now I'm going to have to make another batch."

Emmett grinned and slung an arm around my shoulders. "Just think, he liked it enough to eat most of the pan, so I'm sure he will give you a great review." I slammed my elbow into his side and heard a sickening crack.

"Oops," I said with a sweet smile as he gasped and held his ribs. After a few seconds he narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"I will get you back for that."

Seth seemed worried and I looked at him condescendingly. "Don't worry about it. You can't help what you don't know."

He didn't look reassured at all, in fact my comment made him look more confused than before.

"You can let me go," I said to Jasper who was still restraining my arms. "I'm not going to eat him, he stinks too much."

Seth grinned his killer smile again and did an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"Don't be too happy," I informed him acidly. "You still ruined my homework. And just because I don't want to eat you for dinner, doesn't mean I can't take you out like that." I snapped my fingers and the sound was like athe crack of a gunshot. His eyes widened and he stood frozen, staring at me.

I started stomping my way towards home, not bothering to move at regular speed. The deliberate pounding of my feet made me feel better, like a child throwing a silent tantrum.

"I can help you make more," Seth said with a shy smile.

I whirled and looked at him with a finger pointed in his face. "Don't you smile at me like that! I don't know what you are but you smell wrong. And stay away from my food unless it's marked with a big fat sign that says 'go ahead and eat me Seth'. Got it?"

His weren't the only eyes wide and staring at me. Esme gave a little shake of her head and turned me with a firm hand towards the house. I went only because she was Esme.

"There is plenty of time for you to make another batch. Seth didn't know better and he's a very nice boy." I folded my arms across my chest as I walked with her.

"Wow," I heard a whisper behind us. "She is scary." When I would have turned around to glare at Seth, Esme held me firmly and kept marching forward.

"I like her."

"Not a chance, buddy," Emmett said.

"She is so freaking pretty!"

"Not a chance," Jasper told him in echo.

_No chance at all!_ But he did have a drop-your-panties smile.


	20. Still Don't Like You

**Leila POV**

Who was this kid Seth? He was so persistent, dogging me whenever he and Jacob came to visit.

Oh yeah; I had met Jacob Black.

It had taken Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie to hold me back when I had been introduced to him. I don't remember much more than seeing him and needing to kill.

Renesmee had showed me later on what she had seen and I had been totally shocked by what I had looked like.

My eyes were almost black and I literally looked ready to kill. I was in a crouch, snarling with a death glare on the dark haired, muscle man. "Let go of me," I said in a low guttural tone to Jasper and Emmett. Rosalie had jumped in front of me with her hands on my shoulders.

"Leila, listen."

I glared at her. "Move."

"Listen to me. I _totally _understand the compulsion and longing to kill Jacob. But you can't."

"Wanna bet?" I spit out and she rolled her eyes.

"I know you're capable of it; but you can't. It would hurt Renesmee."

That had stopped me cold.

_Hurt Renesmee?_ I looked at Rosalie curiously then.

"Look at her," Rosalie instructed and I focused on Mae-Mae. Her brown eyes were hugely wide, full of fear that I was really going to hurt Jacob. She was standing next to his giant form and was clutching his massive hand which swallowed her tiny one and most of her forearm. After a long tense moment I relaxed out of my crouch and stood up. I could not do anything that would hurt Renesmee in any way.

"Stay away from me!" I warned him in a low hiss. He grinned with a brilliant white, beautiful smile but it didn't do anything to me like Seth's did.

When Renesmee finished showing me that, she had looked at me pleadingly. "Please don't kill my Jacob."

"Fine, I won't kill him. But I don't like him."

She had just shrugged and smiled happily. "That's okay. Momma said that he stinks really bad to you and you won't like it. Plus, you can like Seth; he doesn't have an imprint or any girl to like him."

That probably wasn't completely true. I couldn't imagine that there weren't at least a dozen girls that were completely infatuated with Seth. He was hot as hell.

I had dutifully pleased the baby and promised that I would never hurt her Jacob. Ye_ch._ I didn't like him. I thought it was perverted that he had imprinted on Mae-Mae when she was first born. I don't care how much he loved her in just a platonic way. It was creepy.

I had learned about imprinting from the others and by eavesdropping in Jacob's mind.

Okay yes, he didn't think about her sexually, but still. Eww!

Over the past couple weeks, Jacob had not avoided me but had given me a wide berth. _I _avoided _him_ like the plague and if he came too close, even if it was just by accident, a feral snarl would bubble in my chest. He just screamed danger to every instinct I possessed and though everyone in the family said over and over that he would never, ever hurt me, my vampire nature continued to hate him. He was human but he _wasn't_ human and I couldn't figure out just what he and Seth were.

Now Seth was a totally different story with me.

He was happy... ALL THE TIME. He continuously flirted with me but it was never crude or sexist. I just as consistently tortured him, verbally sparring with him at every turn. I cooked all the time now too and Seth was in the kitchen every time he was at the house. Cooking soothed the rage inside whenever Jacob was near the house and the end result was a mountain of food with no one to eat it... except Seth... and Jacob.

I didn't mind Seth eating the food. Yes, I gave him a hard time but I kind of liked that he was totally in love with my chef skills. I had actually made an index card that said _'Go Ahead and Eat Me Seth'_ and I used it when I was in a particularly bad mood.

For as much as we went back and forth, I actually enjoyed it. It gave me something stimulating more than school and made my stomach feel all fluttery; especially when he got close or smiled at me. I had to catch myself sometimes before I smiled back.

Wouldn't want him to think I liked him or anything.

* * *

><p><strong>Esme POV<strong>

"Where did you see a sign that said _'go ahead and eat me'_?"

I rolled my eyes at Leila's question. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen with her hands on her hips, giving Seth a death glare. He was staring at her with a deer in the headlights look. It had been going on like this for the last two weeks or so.

Seth openly lusted after her and she antagonized him incessantly. I knew she was interested in him to some degree but I could also see the natural revulsion in her when she was first around him. She would hold her breath and give a little involuntary shudder, gritting her teeth until she had become used to the wolf smell.

"You always make extra for me and I left your nice pan alone." Seth grinned at her and she narrowed her eyes.

"Don't even try it!" She marched over to the counter and slammed the cabinet drawer open. It slid right off its track and flew across the room. In a flash Seth had retrieved it and handed it back to her with a repressed smirk. He liked to get under her skin and no matter how many times Emmett and Jasper told him he didn't have a chance, he kept pursuing her.

I had to admit, his tenacity was to be admired considering all the hurdles he would have to overcome. The two of them were natural enemies and were both lethal to the other; her more so than him. Not to mention their smell to each other.

Leila snatched the drawer out of his hands and put it back in its slot after taking out plastic wrap. She carefully covered her ceramic dish that held a decorated cake roll and I made a mental note to buy some containers. I had never really had to worry about proper cookware beyond what we needed for appearance sake.

After stowing the beautiful chocolate cake in the fridge, she glared at Seth again. "Go ahead and eat the rest of that one. At least Jacob won't get any."

That was another thing; she absolutely detested Jacob. She avoided him at all cost and said it was unnatural how he was with Nessie. _"He was in love with her mother and then transferred his affections to her newborn daughter. It's weird! Just weird!"_ had been her exact words.

She also said she didn't know why she disliked Jacob, she just did. _"I don't like Seth much either, he just has that smile."_ I smiled as I remembered her saying that.

"I knew you liked me," Seth said happily and took more cake.

"I _don't_ like you," she hissed and lunged towards him, hand extended.

"Play nice," I chided and she stopped mid-movement. Seth took a huge bite of the dessert and nodded as he chewed. When he swallowed, he gave me one of his sweet smiles.

"I always play nice, she just doesn't like it." He considered Leila for a moment. "Maybe she would like it rough."

_Woah!_ I wouldn't have expected something like that out of innocent little Seth.

"I don't want to play with you period. So shut it or no more food."

He growled at her and she snarled back. I just shook my head and turned to leave the kitchen. "Play nice Leila; I mean it."

I saw Seth move closer to her as I turned the corner. _Hmm,_ I wondered how she would take to that.

I flew up the stairs and Carlisle met me at the door of his office. "How is our little one?" he asked ironically with a little smile. I shook my head with a sigh.

"Going at it with Seth again."

He chuckled. "I think she likes it, the sparring. I think they both like it, otherwise they would avoid each other. She does avoidance well enough with Jacob."

I pressed myself against him subtly with a suggestive smile. "While she is occupied, we could have a little fun. I think we have neglected to break in your office."

He raised one eyebrow. "Now that you mention it, we should immediately rectify that oversight." He pulled me inside and shut the door.

* * *

><p><strong>LEILA POV<strong>

"What are you doing?" I asked Seth suspiciously as he edged closer to me. He set his plate on the counter and stalked me slowly as I inched backwards. My back met the counter where the two ends met and I was effectively trapped as he closed in on me. Putting a hand on the counter on each side of me he leaned close.

"I know you like me. If you didn't I wouldn't bother you so much."

I glared at him. "I don't know what you're referring to. You don't bother me, you just annoy me."

He smiled full force and I sucked in a breath. _Damn it!_ He recognized my reaction immediately and leaned closer to me. He was only inches away now.

"Hold your breath," he said.

"What?" I asked him like he was nuts and he grinned again. _Damn, damn, double damn. _

"It's the smell. You convince yourself you don't like me because you don't like the way I smell. So hold your breath." He looked me up and down. "Me personally, I don't mind the way you smell. You don't smell as bad as the rest of them; you smell sweet."

I put a hand on his chest to keep him from moving closer to me. "I'm not going to hold my breath indefinitely just because you have a nice smile."

"Aha!" he crowed. "I knew you liked me."

"I like your smile; there's a difference."

"My smile is a part of me," he reasoned and I pushed him back a little.

"This whole conversation is ridiculous."

Seth wiggled his eyebrows. "So let's stop talking."

"Oh puh-lease! That is _the worst_ pick up line e..." My words were abruptly cut off as he pressed his lips to mine. He held me by the upper arms and I was too surprised to resist him. He moved his lips against mine almost hesitantly as if he wasn't too sure what he was doing. When he shifted and his pelvis came into contact with mine, I gasped. He took that as acquiescence and licked my lips before darting his tongue into my mouth. It was unreal.

Up close and personal like this with his hands and mouth on me, I couldn't remember what it was about him I didn't like. The heat of his tongue as it touched mine was like an electrical charge and I rose up on my toes and clenched my legs together. Crazy feelings and sensations rushed through me and somewhere in the back of my mind I thought _'I shouldn't do this'_.

He let go of my arms and slid his fingers into my hair, tilting my head slightly as he explored my mouth. It was the first time I had ever done more than give a boy an innocent goodnight kiss so I really didn't have much to compare it with. But even with his obvious inexperience, Seth Clearwater was a _really_ _good_ kisser.

He pulled away and sucked in a breath, watching me for a violent reaction. I stared at him for a second and then my eyes dropped to his lips. I licked my upper lip and looked back into his eyes. When I did nothing more in reaction, he leaned down and kissed me again. This time one of his hands slid down my back and pulled me closer, molding me flush against him.

I didn't realize that I had put a hand on the back of his neck until he lifted me to sit on the counter. He took a step closer, standing between my legs as he continued his hot, deep kiss. He put both hands on my sides and rubbed them up and down, moving around to cup my hips. His thumbs slid under the hem of my shirt and rubbed in little circles on my lower stomach. I jumped at the sensation, the knowledge that his hands were that close to my private place making me squirm.

_Holy hell, no wonder my friend Kara was so boy crazy._ I hadn't known what I was missing out on before but I was kind of positive that I would have never had this reaction to another boy. My eyes were closed as I just lost myself in his insane hotness.

After an eternity he pulled away to breathe again and I whimpered a tiny bit. My eyes flew wide and I bit my bottom lip. "Oops."

He stared back at me as he breathed hard and then smiled slowly. As worked up as I already was, I felt myself get wet and squirmed uncomfortably on the counter. "They told me no chance," he whispered and I glared playfully at him.

"Yeah, well I still don't like you."

He laughed. "If that is you not liking me, _please_ keep hating me."

I yanked him by his neck and I kissed him this time. He groaned into my mouth and kissed me back with enthusiasm. When I wrapped one of my legs around his waist, his hips thrust towards mine and I shifted against him. He tasted nothing like he smelled. More than anything, he was hot; hot, wet and soft. His lips, tongue, hands; every place he touched me was seared with his heat. I was going up in flames. With reluctance, I toned down the intensity and finally pulled away.

"We really shouldn't do this," I told him and he raised his eyebrows.

"I am really liking doing this," he reasoned and I nodded.

"Yeah, me too, but it doesn't mean we should be doing it."

"Why?" he challenged and I sighed.

"Because, I'm not ready to go any further with anyone. I'm sixteen, not a hundred like the rest of them. Plus, I don't love you and you don't love me." I pretended to think for a second. "Oh yeah, you still have an imprint to find and we're enemies."

He shrugged. "I'm fine with that. I'm only sixteen too. I'm not in any rush to imprint on anyone. I would be happy as hell to just do this."

I considered it for a few seconds. "So no commitment or obligation?"

He grinned widely. "I will take anything you want to give me and I ask for nothing more."

I was silent for several minutes. He was cute and hot with a smile that made my stomach quiver every time. I didn't love him, hell I had only known him thirteen days; but I couldn't deny kissing him had been the most pleasurable experience I had ever had. _Well, there was that hunter I fed on... gosh he had tasted so good._

"Fine, we can... date or whatever. But everything stays above the waist only."

"Holy shit! Are you serious?"

I lightly smacked him on the shoulder. "That doesn't give you the right to maul me in public. I'm not a dude like you. I'm a girl, and I'm still human. I want it to be normal."

"Okay, no problem. Whatever you want." He pulled me close again. "Just sealing the deal," he said against my lips.

"Really? In the kitchen!" We whipped apart at the question and looked in stunned silence at Rosalie. She smirked at me and then gave Seth a pointed stare.

"Don't hurt my baby sister mutt."

He shook his head with a little smile. "Wouldn't dream of it. Plus, I'm pretty sure she could hurt me a lot worse."

Rosalie narrowed her eyes. "That's not the hurt I was talking about."

I pushed him away from me without any malice and hopped off the counter. He stepped away respectfully but smiled happily at me.

"Don't look so overjoyed," I told him but it didn't erase it from his face.

_Damn it._


End file.
